If this title comes as a surprise to you, you aren’t the only one. Many still view Coachella as the flower-crown-wearing festival that took up your feed in 2016, but as the world has shifted towards influencers as opposed to the star-studded lineup of Tumblr’s best and the audience embraces an influencer-centric guest list, brands have been catering to them and have begun renting houses for your TikTok feed VIPs. While some brands host gifting suites or pop-up adjacents in Coachella Valley, some brands up the ante and rent entire homes for their guest list. Prior to this year, the only familiarity I had with the sponsored homes at Coachella was when Guess hosted the Vlog Squad, the Carlson sisters, and other noticeable social media stars. This year, every influencer who is anyone was in a sponsorship house, so let’s talk about it!
Poppi
Poppi hosted Alix Earle and her friends in a house with a pool and used this as an opportunity to market themselves. In anticipation of their newest flavor, lemon lime, the prebiotic soda brand spared no expense to keep with the theme. The brand made sure there were lime and lemon pool floats, custom green towels matched with a lime pillow, and the newest flavor featured in every photo. Poppi solely hosted Earle and friends, and even had decorations naming the weekend “Earlechella.” Since Earle is notable for her outrageous party energy, even the bar cart came packed with the newest flavor and pairings such as 818.
The Guess Compound
The infamous Guess Compound. Guess rents essentially a neighborhood for Coachella to host their guests, with over fourteen homes each privatized to one group. Since they have an entire street, noise shouldn’t be an issue, which is why there is an entire afterparty club where many can come to continue even after the festival closes! This year, Charli XCX came and played on the set, with Troye Sivan, Cara Delevingne, Gabbriette, Emma Chamberlain, and more in the crowd. Each home comes with a closet full of Guess clothes, slippers, and a stacked drink fridge.
Tarte
The most glamorous of the list, Tarte hosted another large-scale vacation in Coachella Valley. Usually, Tarte hosts exhilarating trips with influencers you love and may even be surprised by within the mix. This year at Coachella Tarte included glam stations, products aplenty, mini golf, basketball, even a giant slip ‘n slide. Tarte seems to rent the same home every year and leaves a spot for beauty faves such as Alexis Oakley and Lauren Wolfe.