On "High Fashion," Addison Rae Prefers Hermes to Hedonism - Atwood Magazine

      On Addison Rae’s catchy track “High Fashion,” she demonstrates her talent for creating memorable pop music, generating excitement for her upcoming debut album.

      A year ago, it seemed that Addison Rae’s music career was more of a joke, merely an extension of her primary identity as Addison Rae. Yet here we are in 2025, and the tables have turned. With her infectious new single “High Fashion,” Rae shows that her viral successes were not mere coincidences. She is producing significant pop music, capturing global attention.

      Everything began with a powerful vocal performance. Rae’s striking shout on Charli XCX’s 2024 remix of “Von Dutch” signaled her serious intentions in the music scene. The remix gained such popularity that Charli included it in her tour set instead of the Grammy-winning original version.

      The puzzle of Addison Rae’s musical journey truly fell into place with the release of her (sugar-free) bubblegum-pop track “Diet Pepsi.” This single peaked at number 54 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was celebrated by critics from Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and Billboard as one of the standout songs of 2024.

      With “High Fashion,” the third single from her debut album, Rae showcases her distinctive breathy, ethereal vocals set against a Lana Del Rey-inspired melody, creating one of the year's most captivating tracks.

      The song evokes cinematic imagery: with car windows down and blurred city lights, the protagonist exchanges a daring, heart-wrenching look with the camera as “High Fashion” plays in the backdrop.

      At first listen, the lyrics of “High Fashion” might seem repetitive and simplistic, as if crafted in a writer's room for any pop star. However, as the song unfolds, it becomes clear that this track is uniquely tuned to Addison Rae’s world—where leading a Saint Laurent campaign feels more attainable than falling for a stranger:

      “I don’t need your drugs

      I’d rather get, rather get high fashion

      I don’t want cheap love

      I’d rather get high fashion.”

      While “High Fashion” seems to dismiss the grittiness of hookup culture, it transforms a reckless party into a trivial affair. It prioritizes Hermes over hedonism and Burberry over raves; in this context, ‘high fashion’ represents an exclusive social class that Addison Rae has strived to join.

      However, Rae quickly dismantles this illusion. In the bridge, we witness her facade crumbling with lines like:

      “Spiraling into you,

      I’m into you, denial

      You make it hard,

      so hard to choose.”

      It’s within this conflict—between longing and refusal, openness and pretense—that Rae transcends her influencer status and becomes something much deeper.

      “High Fashion” is not meant for casual listeners; it embodies a mood or aesthetic rather than simply functioning as a song. Stripping it down to just vocals or reading the lyrics as poetry would miss its essence.

      With each release, Addison Rae unfolds her narrative, one chapter at a time, one song at a time. And personally, I find it impossible to put this story down.

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