Festival fashion is roaring back after a decade-long hiatus thanks to 'Daisy Jones,' Coachella, celebrities, and influencers

In a 2021 deep dive on the history of festival fashion, Refinery29 fashion editor Georgia Murray catalogued how styles had changed from Woodstock and Glastonbury in the 1960s and '70s to Coachella and Afropunk in the present day.

While early festival fashion was all about escapism and self-expression, she wrote, somewhere around the 2010s, it became commercialized amid the rise of Instagram and then the rise of Instagram influencers.

The clothes festival-goers wore took on a new level of importance: looking good on social media. 

Everyone from influencers to celebrities to regular attendees started crafting a slew of meticulously planned festival looks — after all, festivals often last multiple days, so attendees required multiple outfits. 

In the early- to mid-2010s, the boho-chic trend dominated music festivals. As Murray wrote in Refinery29, the original Woodstock-era hippie style was reincarnated as "mass-produced flower crowns, glitter, printed pac-a-macs [raincoats] and 'wacky' sunglasses." 

Fast-fashion brands like Boohoo, ASOS, and Nasty Gal started offering their own festival collections, and e-commerce shopping destination Revolve even began hosting its own "Revolve Festival" at Coachella. The invite-only event — which has its own musical performances, free booze, and shopping experiences — quickly became the premiere venue for influencers and celebrities to see and be seen.

Even when festivals returned in 2022, it wasn't immediately obvious that the fashion component had returned as well. 

Research conducted by market intelligence firm EDITED found that US Google searches for "festival fashion" didn't return to pre-pandemic levels, suggesting that interest in Coachalla's signature "desert bohemian aesthetic" had dropped off. There were signs that consumers weren't buying as much either, like when fast-fashion brand Fashion Nova heavily discounted its Western-themed festival collection ahead of the second weekend of Coachella in 2022.

And while influencers like Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner still showed up to festivals, they did so in plain tank tops and cargo pants — a far cry from the flower crowns, body glitter, and crocheted maxi dresses of yore. 

According to EDITED, festival fashion and influencer culture were "due for a post-pandemic reset." 

Heather Ibberson, retail analyst at EDITED, told Insider by email that for a lot of people, the return to some sense of normalcy still feels new, and that's partly what's fueling the festival fashion trend. 

"Consumers are still eager to take the opportunity to dress up and get outside for some fun with friends," she said. 

Ibberson also credited pop culture for driving the trend's resurgence. Shows like Amazon Prime's "Daisy Jones & The Six," a series about a fictional 1970s band loosely based on Fleetwood Mac, "has boosted '70s fashion as a hot ticket trend," Ibberson said. 

Since the show premiered in March, Pinterest searches for "bohemian outfits" jumped 85%, according to EDITED data.

Mandy Lee, an analyst and fashion writer who analyzes style trends for her 440,000 TikTok followers, explained in a recent video how the boho trend has cycled back into fashion.

"We're really seeing influencers and celebrity fashion going back to its roots of like, OG festival fashion," Lee said. She pointed out that celebrities like Victoria's Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio were photographed this year wearing gauzy, sheer tops and pants and metal medallion belts — styles that were last popular around a decade ago. 

"Even though I've been working in trend research for seven years, I am still amazed by how cyclical the trend cycle is," Lee said.

Ibberson from EDITED highlighted cowboy boots and hats, denim-on-denim outfits, and motorcycle looks, including biker jackets and racing graphics, as popular festival trends this year. 

As shopping behavior shifts and younger generations become more conscious of how and what they buy, accessories have become more important than ever. Body chains, cowboy hats, chunky boots, and oversized Y2K bangles were all spotted on festival-goers, Ibberson said, since they're trendy without requiring a whole new outfit. 

And with other music festivals fast approaching plus two major concert tours on the docket for 2023 — Taylor Swift's "Eras" tour and Beyonće's "Renaissance" tour — these trends are unlikely to fade anytime soon.