Matt Rogers’ Guide To Summer 2024

Have you heard? The cosmopolitan is back — and if its appearance during New York Fashion Week wasn’t enough proof, now, we have confirmation that it’ll be showing up in a big way at Coachella, too.

Ahead of the festival, Absolut — the official vodka of Coachella — is launching “Mixing It: Cosmos & Culture,” a series of conversations hosted by Matt Rogers. In weekly episodes released on the new virtual platform AbsolutLAND, the Fire Island star will chat with experts in fashion, music, and culture, including Wayman + Micah, Chrishell Stause, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, and more, over Absolut cosmos.

“I'm excited to be at Coachella,” says Rogers, who adds that he’s looking forward to seeing No Doubt, Lana Del Rey, and Doja Cat. “That's when things really start feeling like we're on summer vacation, even though it’s technically two months too early.” Below, Rogers talks to NYLON about his hottest summer predictions, including It drinks, vacation spots for interesting characters, and ocular-health-safe summer fashion.

Hi Matt, how are you?

Good. I have my coffee.

How do you take your coffee?

I have a very large cold brew with oat milk. I never saw this for my life, but I've become a true cold-brew person. I feel like I'm not really going until I have my regular unleaded in me.

Are you ever a full-fat person or are we always talking oat milk?

I used to be a full-fat person, and now, I don't know. All these little things you're supposed to do, they then tell you not to. It's like you're not supposed to drink the milk because it's bad for you, but then you find out the nut milk is actually worse for the environment. You're supposed to intermittent fast because you'll lose weight, but now you're not supposed to intermittent fast because you're going to get heart disease. I was just driving back to my apartment thinking to myself, “You know what? I think everyone should just do whatever the f*ck they want to do.”

You just gave us the wellness version of the Barbie monologue.

Exactly. And if I can’t get an Oscar nomination for that, I'll be upset with the state of the industry.

On the note of health: What cocktails are we drinking right now? What are we going to be drinking into summer?

Well, I don't know if you've heard, but the cosmo is back. I really do enjoy a specialty cocktail, and so anytime an event can be around a cocktail, I do really appreciate that. So to know that Absolut's going to be going all in with the cosmo for Coachella, I can definitely participate in that. As much as we love Aperol spritz, I do think its moment has passed. Now that I'm hearing that everyone's new cocktail they're raging about, again, is the cosmopolitan, that works for me because it's refreshing, it's a cute color, and it's got an idea of glamor about it.

And it's made with vodka, famously.

100%. Absolut Citron if you're nasty — in a good way, in the Janet Jackson way.

Do you have any predictions for what the song of the summer is going to be?

Dua is always going to be a front-runner. I’m loving her vibe of radical optimism. Her album imagery suggests that we are going to be going into the ocean, sharks be damned, so I'm really excited to see what she's going to offer. I love “Training Season,” but by the time summer comes around, “Training Season” will truly be over — not about the song, I just mean training season, literally. But I want that song to go as far as possible, I think it's a true bop. I’m really excited to see what Beyoncé has on Cowboy Carter. I'm a big Swiftie, so I'm excited for Tortured Poets, though I would say the album art doesn't really suggest summer bops. It suggests plaintive songwriting.

Let’s talk travel. What’s going to be the hottest summer trip?

This year, as I'm wont to do, I'm going to go to Fire Island a couple times, while we still have it. I'm going in June and again in August, so two different vibes. I'm also going to Provincetown this summer, which I'm really excited about. Provincetown is like Fire Island if there were restaurants and more of a community spirit. It's more family driven and all ages, though you can still go there and party. I also love to make a little reservation at the Ace Hotel, Palm Springs for Memorial Day weekend. The Ace Hotel pool in Palm Springs is where all the interesting characters hang out. Trust me, I would know.

What about clothes? What are you predicting when it comes to summer fashion trends?

The big movie at the moment right now is Dune, so I feel like we're going to see a lot of loose fabrics. I feel like we're going to see a lot of monochrome, especially in the desert. I think we're going to see a lot of Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet cosplaying, which is fine, I just hope people also protect their eyes a little bit more than they seem to be doing in Dune. I'm always worried about their ocular health. They're putting all those blue contact lenses in, and they're constantly in sandstorms. This Coachella, I know we're going to want to look like Timothée and Zendaya, but let's put our sunglasses on.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.