Taylor Swift surprise dropped her latest music video "Lavender Haze," at midnight (no surprises there). The "sultry sleepless 70s fever dream" written and directed by Swift herself kept us up all night after leaving a trail of clues and lavender-hued fog in its soft-core psychedelic visuals, and introduced Laith Ashley, a transgender model, actor and activist, as Swift’s heavy-sleeping counterpart.
\u201cThis was the first video I wrote out of the 3 that have been released, and this one really helped me conceptualize the world and mood of Midnights, like a sultry sleepless 70\u2019s fever dream. Hope you like it \ud83d\ude01\n\nhttps://t.co/auFTSVBP0A\u201d— Taylor Swift (@Taylor Swift) 1674795974
As Swift aptly wrote in her Instagram post announcing the video, “There is lots of lavender. There is lots of haze. There is my incredible co-star [Laith Ashley] who I absolutely adored working with.”
But with Swift, there is always more than meets the eye. At a time when trans rights are in jeopardy across the country, Ashley’s role as Swift’s leading love interest is a big win for trans representation.
Ashley, the Dominican-American model, first made headlines as the first transgender male model to appear in a national campaign. From Calvin Klein ads to the Gypsy Sport Catwalk, Ashley quickly became a pop-culture figurehead for transmasculinity, navigating his career with caution. In 2018, he told GQ UK, “It’s hard to be considered this poster child for trans-masculinity, because it’s diverse; no matter where you are on the spectrum there’s another spectrum for you.”
Ashley was quick to extend his gratitude over Twitter, quote tweeting the video with, “Thank you so much [Taylor Swift] for allowing me to play a small part in your story. You are brilliant and this is an experience I will never forget.”
\u201cThank you so much @taylorswift13 for allowing me to play a small part in your story. You are brilliant and this is an experience I will never forget.\u201d— Laith Ashley De La Cruz (@Laith Ashley De La Cruz) 1674796914
But there’s still more embedded in the ‘Lavender Haze” visual itself. With 3.9 million views at the time of publishing, the Swifties went to work, uncovering the easter eggs in the video, pointing to other singles on Midnights and, of course, bringing up her romantic past. Swifties are spilling the songstress’s secrets across social media by inding parallels between koi fish and Swift’s Speak Now tour guitar, a pedicure the same color as her nails in the “Our Song” music video and more.
\u201cKOY FISH LOKE THE KOY FISH GUITAR SPEAK NOW TV IS COMING #LAVENDERHAZEMUSICVIDEO\u201d— Angelina for \ud83d\udd70Swiftonoff\ud83d\udd70 (@Angelina for \ud83d\udd70Swiftonoff\ud83d\udd70) 1674796005
\u201c\ud83e\uddf5\ud83e\udea1ALL OF THE EASTER EGGS I FOUND IN THE LAVENDER HAZE MV, A THREAD\ud83e\uddf5\ud83e\udea1\u201d— sam \ud83d\udd70 (@sam \ud83d\udd70) 1674805112
@sparksflyswiftie Here are some of the Easter eggs I found after just a few views of the music video. Did I miss anything?? Let me know down below!!💜💜💜 @taylorswift @taylornation #swifttok #swiftie #taylorswift #lavenderhazemusicvideo #lavenderhaze #meetmeatmidnight #tsmidnights #midnights #erastour #taylorswifterastour #tserastour #speaknowtaylorsversion #theerastour
@kylekerch Lavender Haze music video Easter eggs! Doctor Swift put on her astrology hat for this one ♐️♓️ #taylorswift #lavenderhaze #lavenderhazemusicvideo #taylorswifteastereggs #swiftie #swifttok Lavender Haze music video Lavender Haze easter eggs Taylor Swift lavender haze music video
And, of course, Joe Alwyn tributes are everywhere with the constellations of Sagittarius and Pisces scattered throughout the music video. Alwyn is once again trending on Twitter as fans try to fight him from their keyboards.
\u201cif you listen closely you can hear joe alwyn\u2019s publicist sigh as they prepare for a night of his name trending and all of them challenging their client to fight\u201d— liz (@liz) 1668365929
Watch the video for "Lavender Haze" below to see what you can uncover.
Photo courtesy of Jason Sean Weis/ BFA
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