As the first weekend of the “Influencer Olympics” has come to an end, a certain influencer event has taken the internet by storm. This year’s Revolve Fest has received mixed reviews from festival-goers and influencers alike. Revolve has hosted the invite-only Revolve Fest since 2015, and it’s notoriously an exclusive day party location for influencers who typically attend Coachella at night. In a statement to Women’s Wear Daily, Revolve chief brand officer Raissa Gerona called the event a “celebration of life and living it to its fullest.” The event featured a star-studded entertainment lineup with artists like Jack Harlow, Post Malone, Ty Dolla $ign and Willow, to name a few. The event is well known for its exclusivity, branding opportunities and celebrity attendees.
This year, Hollywood stars like Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet and Sydney Sweeney attended. The event is one of the biggest marketing tactics for Revolve. The brand understands the importance that Revolve Fest exemplifies the brand’s values. For celebrities such as Kendall Jenner, Revolve Fest is the perfect place to mix work and pleasure as the cocktails at the event were provided by Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila. Likewise, Kendall’s sister Khloe Kardashian’s brand, Good American, had a branded ice cream truck.
While Revolve Festival has been around since 2015, there has been two-year hiatus before this year’s revamp due to the pandemic. In another press conference, brand officer Raissa Gerona spoke about the hiatus, saying, “After nearly three years of hiatus, we are excited to showcase the incredible talent, brands, partners and content we believe our audience will be inspired by and excited to celebrate with us.” The brand has attempted to put every precaution in place to kickstart the new era of Revolve fest in a post-pandemic world. With a stacked musical lineup and Hollywood’s finest in attendance, what could go wrong?
After the first day of Revolve Fest on April 16, TikTok users were bombarded by frustrated influencers who were beginning to compare the festival to Fyre Festival. For those who don’t know what Fyre Festival was or haven’t seen the Netflix documentary, Fyre Festival was a luxury music festival hosted by a conman. To summarize the issues associated with Fyre Festival, the attendees were scammed, treated poorly and did not receive the experience that they paid for. So why exactly are some people comparing Revolve Fest to Fyre Fest?
While there have been no formal reports or statements from celebrities, lots of influencers who attended have made TikToks or released statements regarding their experience at Revolve Fest. In a statement with Daily Mail, influencer Maddie White spoke of the festival saying, “After about two and a half hours of waiting in the burning sun—it was 90 degrees, and there was no water, two members of staff for the whole thing—I finally made it inside the festival.” She went on to speak about how she was paid $2,000 to attend the event, and how she understands she may not be a celebrity, but influencers still contribute a lot to the success of Revolve and Revolve Fest. According to a WWD report in 2017, “65 to 70 percent of overall sales at the time were driven by influencers.” Because of the growing power of influencers on the success of online retailers, influencers like Maddie White were upset by the difference in treatment of them and traditional celebrities.
After the weekend came to a close and numerous influencers spoke of their negative experiences at Revolve Fest, Revolve Fest released an official statement. In a statement to E! News, a Revolve representative said, “We sincerely apologize to all the guests who were impacted, we always strive to provide a great experience and we promise to do better.”
With an influencer online frenzy and an apology from Revolve Fest, no one can be sure what went wrong at this year’s Revolve Fest. Only time will tell if the hosts of Revolve Fest will reflect and make changes to how they run their festival. Perhaps this year was just a festival fluke after a hiatus, or maybe the influencers have exposed the truth behind Revolve Fest.
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