The Best Street Style at Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival
Woodstock for Gen Z. That, according to one attendee, is what Tyler, the Creator has created in the Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival, which was held for the eighth time this past weekend in Los Angeles. The event is the perfect place for kids weaned on a non-genre-specific mix of rock and hip-hop to listen to their favorite artists and dress to the hilt in every subgenre of streetwear style possible. In Tyler, the event has an ideal impresario, since his musical career encompasses a potent mix of street and outsider styles. He first burst onto the scene in 2010 with his punk-rap group Odd Future. Tyler has since gone through many Madonna-esque transformations, and his latest album, Igor, is full of narratives of love triangles and heartbreaks—and a more grown-up sonic texture of slow-grinding rap and soul.
While Tyler has changed, the foundation of the Carnival has remained roughly the same since its inception in 2012. Thousands of kids walk up a long hill into the parking lot surrounding Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where they are greeted with merch stations, selfie booths (including, this year, a giant Converse sneaker designed by Tyler that festivalgoers can pose in front of). There are free carnival rides, carnie food and games, and of course three stages filled with some of the biggest acts in pop music. This year featured the likes of Solange, FKA Twigs, Willow Smith, The Internet, Lil Uzi Vert, and DaBaby.
As Tyler’s popularity has grown, his fans have remained young, stylish, and cool. And their style has grown too. Gone are the fully decked-out Odd Future head-to-toe outfits. Now the typical uniform is more creative festivalwear. Think Coachella goes punk. But Tyler-inspired looks are still present: blond wigs—styled after the bob Tyler wears to transform into the title character on the cover of Igor—are everywhere, as are the babushka scarves rocked by A$AP Rocky in the “Babushka Boi” video (and later by Tyler and Frank Ocean). There are even a few throwbacks like the Odd Future “cherry bomb” prints and vintage Tyler donut-print sneakers.
For Mitchell’s third Flog Gnaw, he opted for loose-fitting pants and a blazer, while rocking a Tyler-inspired blond wig. “It’s careless, comfortable, and loud,” he says of the Flog Gnaw aesthetic. “We’re out here not caring what others think.”
Born in Nagano, Japan, Sota has lived in Amsterdam for the past five years, and hopes to open a ramen shop there one day. “I especially think about colors,” he says about his style. He can’t wait to see The Internet and Thundercat later in the day.
@kyndollwork
Flower Boy, Tyler’s 2017 album, is one of artist Kyn’s favorite albums of all time. “After I broke up with my girlfriend, Flower Boy resonated with me a lot,” she says. “It has a safe place in my heart.”
“That had not crossed my mind,” says Nick, when asked if his and his festival-mate Tony’s Carhartt coveralls were inspired by Lil Nas X. “This is just real. We’re from Austin, Texas, so this is just us,” Tony concurs. A group of teens pass by and one of them shouts, “Those guys are doing it right!” (If you’re wondering, Nick’s shirt says, “Don’t Listen to Red Hot Chili Peppers.”)
@jazdawkins and @goatmanellis
Jazmyn is a Flog Gnaw lifer, having been to each of the eight Carnivals. “It’s crazy seeing it evolve a little every year,” she says. MyChal—a talented amateur rapper himself—has been listening to Tyler since he was 13. He considers Tyler’s latest, Igor, “innovative” and one of his favorite albums of all time. “His music kinda freed me up a little bit,” he says.
@paul.omara
“It’s my first time at a music festival,” says Paul, who was a bit anxious to get so dressed up, but thrifted his whole outfit (with his friend Maddy Wren acting as his stylist) and made the leap into the streetwear-meets-golf style that Tyler has made so popular with his Golf Wang label. A filmmaker and student, Paul is working on an essay about “how hip-hop and streetwear have appropriated golf culture.”
“He’s a free spirit, why can’t I be a free spirit?” says Brandon about being inspired by Tyler early on. Brandon is rocking a KidSuper jumpsuit that he “bought for a lot of money when I was poor,” he says with a twinkle in his eye, and a shirt from his friend Christopher McHale’s streetwear label. “And these shoes are from when Tyler was still working with Vans. A little throwback.”
@chief_ethan
Ethan came down from the Central Valley to see Tyler, who inspired him to start his own streetwear line, Profile—he’s rocking pants that he screen-printed himself. “At first, I just thought it was interesting,” he says of the Carnival. “But it was so in your face, and I came to love the clothes.”
Theo likes comfortable clothes if he’s going to be out at the festival all day. He picked up these painter pants from the Sherwin-Williams store for $15.
@niakrobinson and @christianelovee
Nia is a host of the popular YouTube reaction channel Teens React. She calls her look “handmade ’60s British Invasion.” Christiane is an actor and she photographs underground bands in L.A. “I was always weird and that felt cool after seeing Tyler be weird,” Christiane says. “He inspired me to bring out my inner punk.”
@chainlinktwink
“I was trying to feel the vibes,” says Ricky about getting the festival look together. “It’s everything I bought at a sex shop.”
@yungdij
Dij sees the Flog Gnaw Carnival as a place where everyone can “be weird,” as she puts it. “There’s no judgment.”
@honeybluclue
“We wanted to have that Cosmo and Wanda vibe; that Blossom and Buttercup feel,” the singer-songwriter says of the look she and her friend Autumn, pictured below, were going for.
@autumnthemystic
“We wanna be modern-day renaissance women,” says Autumn of herself and her friends, including Blü, pictured above. “We work hard at being creative.”
![Lexi, 20
@woahitslexii_
Lexi and her friends came down from Redlands, California. “I love Flog Gnaw because it’s something totally different every time,” she says. “I really felt it when Tyler said his whole life he felt like a stepchild [in his acceptance speech for the Wall Street Journal Music Innovator award earlier this month]. But he found a creative outlet, and that’s cool.”](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Diw4IHXARl_1UwSb.2YCBQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTEyODE-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/vogue_137/0b02d6afe4a1936e31e9a45dc407f3dc)
@woahitslexii_
Lexi and her friends came down from Redlands, California. “I love Flog Gnaw because it’s something totally different every time,” she says. “I really felt it when Tyler said his whole life he felt like a stepchild [in his acceptance speech for the Wall Street Journal Music Innovator award earlier this month]. But he found a creative outlet, and that’s cool.”
@okaydrey
“My inspo is golf, and e-girls with the big eyelashes and blush all over,” says Drey, who came down from Redlands, California, for Flog Gnaw. “The fishing vest I found at a thrift store for $3,” she says with a glittery smile. Drey has loved Tyler since being introduced to him by her older siblings. “I grew up with him,” she says.
Originally Appeared on Vogue
