But I have a new obsession, and she’s 13.
Meet Tavi Gevinson, the pint-sized mastermind behind Style Rookie, a hilariously well-written fashion blog, chock full of quirky style insight, photos and commentary by fashion visionary Tavi herself– who just so happens to be in eighth grade.
But what’s seriously mind-blowing about this chick, is that you don’t just say “Wow that’s great…for a 14-year-old.”
I stumbled upon the blog, fell in love, read voraciously thinking whoa who is this human? I thought she had to be some famed fashion personality that I’d failed to previously encounter, and I actually thought she might be elderly, judging by the silver hair she had donned in those most recent posts. Then, as is my tradition with any new blog, I clicked all the way back to the first entry [it’s so fascinating to see where these things start] and there I discover: SHE’S 12!
Her first blog post reads:
Lately I’ve been really interested in fashion, and I like to make binders and slideshows of “high-fashion” modeling and designs. I’d like to know of neat websites and magazines, so comments are welcome. I plan on posting pictures in the future, but for now, I’m just getting started. Yours truly, Tavi
Binders?! That’s fantastic! And while that first entry reeks of middle school naiveté, the two years of blog posts that follow are smart, entertaining, and just plain charming.
And apparently the fashion world is just as enraptured as I.
Just two years after launching the blog, she’s been written about in Paris Vogue, Teen Vogue and countless other publications. She took a week off of school for NY Fashion Week, she’s reviewing Spring 2010 collections for Harper’s Bazaar, and getting paid to blog for thepop.com where they even asked her to come up with their Christmas Blog. She chose to write on the furthest thing from fashion: Darfur. And oh dear god, she can write:
I’ve kind of become used to what I say being referred to as a “younger point of view,” and to be frank, it’s a little tiring. Here, I would like to use it to my advantage. I am younger, but I am not writing this as a representative of the next generation or today’s youth or whatever, because I seriously don’t know much about my generation other than the Internet, pathetic as that sounds. Another common response I get in reference to my blog is, “Wow! When I was thirteen I was getting drunk and ditching class!” I don’t want to start caring about these things just when I’m older and done getting into trouble. I am genuinely frightened of what’s going to happen here. I am writing this as someone who has yet to experience many things, witness many things, and become many things. I could tell you my life story (other than that it would be kind of boring), but this is not about me. Or you, or you and me and then them over on the other side of the pond. This is about us as an entire world.
Simply Google her name and you’ll stumble upon a startling array of Tavi love from fashion icons across the globe accompanied by documentation of the company she now keeps: John Galliano, Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto. Not to mention everyday notables like Gwen Stefani and Chloe Sevigny.
Oh, and she’s also the muse for the Rodarte for Target collection. When Rodarte’s Kate and Laura Mulleavy saw her blog, they e-mailed her immediately [right after mailing her a pair of hand-knitted tights] asking for her help on the line.
According to the Fash Pack, this is what the sisters had to say of Tavi:
“She is a mix between J.D. Salinger, Dorothy Parker, and Cindy Sherman. Our favorite combination! Her way of interacting with the world comes from a sensitivity and madness that belongs to poets and bank robbers.”
Watch her interview with the design duo and other involved in the Rodarte for Target collection:
How on earth is she so darn savvy?
Photo (cc) by Danie Dutche and republished here under a Creative Commons license. Some rights reserved.
the baglady in lace 