The internet is having a ‘messy’ moment, courtesy of model Sofia Richie Grainge.
Last week, Grainge made waves on TikTok when she danced to Lola Young’s song ‘Messy’ with her influencer friend Jake Shane. Shane’s video, which now has more than 1.3 million likes, captivated fans – mainly thanks to Grainge’s moves and general cool-girl aesthetic.
“She’s just so smooth with it,” one fan said of Grainge, who is wearing sunglasses and sleek bangs in the video.
Trusted news and daily treats, straight to your inbox
See for yourself: The Yodel is the source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories.
“I immediately looked this song up because of her, she is so timeless,” another gushed about the new mother.
One reminded the internet of her origins: “Y’all forget she’s Lionel Richie’s daughter,” they said.
Grainge, the daughter of “Stuck On You” musician and designer Diane Alexander (not to mention sister of 2000s icon Nicole Richie) quickly became TikTok’s latest template for dancing to the Young song – although many people joked that they could. I haven’t quite mastered her effortless vibes.
“I wish I was as effortlessly cool as she is when I watch the video for the thousandth time,” one TikToker joked in the caption of a video of Grainge performing the #MessyDance while hanging out with her baby.
Another fan chatted along over a cup of coffee in another TikTok post, writing, “There’s something so rich about Sofie Richie’s dance.”
A third grabbed a pair of sunglasses to recreate Grainge’s video, noting that she and the fashion icon have something in common: “I spent my whole life dancing like Sofia Richie in the corner of the party by myself,” wrote the TikToker.
Still, not everyone fully understood Grainge’s current virality. As one TikToker put it: “The girls turned the little random bop Sofia Richie did on this song into a trend and I’m stuck in the middle of making people enjoy things and I’m terrified of how people say they’re obsessed… and how their brain’s chemistry has changed since they saw her wobble backwards.’
Another joked that the internet was a little too impressed with “rhythm and just vibrate.”
Say what you will about the #MessyDance trend, but this is hardly the first time Grainge has made a splash on TikTok. Grainge, who married record executive Elliot Grainge in 2023, became the face of the “old money” and “quiet luxury” aesthetic on social media, thanks to the public fascination with her star-studded wedding in France and her subsequent change in style. (Think: lots of cream, subtle but expensive accessories and subdued blonde hair.)
But as Yahoo writer Katie Mather pointed out, Grainge isn’t actually “old money” at all — and her ultra-luxe wedding was hardly an example of so-called “stealth wealth.”
What then is the fascination with everything Grainge does? Maybe, as the internet puts it, it’s really just about the good atmosphere.
