Monday 19 October 2009

Style Rookie



She’s 13 years old, outrageously stylish and fashion gold dust. Meet Tavi Gevinson.

Gevinson is the new poster child for the media trend that is now infiltrating the fashion industry with increasing influence after her blog ‘The New Girl in Town’ gained international attention. The 13 year old who still attends school in suburban Chicago has over half a million hits per month. Her blog includes self-styled shoots with fashion reference points such as Marie Antoinette, Alfred Hitchcock and NASA. Her success has won her online advertising deals with Net-A-Porter and a collaborative fashion line with London based company Borders and Frontiers. Tavi even raises awareness for the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan on her blog.

But what’s made Gevinson’s blog so internationally celebrated? The answer is multidimensional. We first have to recognise the impact the global recession has had on the media industry. Magazine publishing heavyweights Condé Nast admitted a 36% fall in sales this season. Fashion hungry readers are looking for styling tips at cut price costs. Match this with the world’s ever increasing exposure to technology and Tavi’s extensive knowledge of fashion and kooky styling: the style blogger is born. Let me introduce you to the new generation of underage fashion journalists who include Jane Aldridge from ‘Sea of Shoes’ who now has a capsule collection of shoes for Urban Outfitters and Susie Bubble of ‘Style Bubble’ who edits the online edition of Dazed and Confused.

Tavi was recently photographed at New York Fashion Week with Alexander Wang, US Vogue’s creative director Grace Coddington and has been courted by influential designers such as Marc Jacobs and Yohji Yamamoto. She has graced the cover of this season’s edition of POP magazine and along with fellow bloggers like Fake Karl Lagerfeld has produced a minizine for the magazine. Editor in chief Dasha Zhukova described this style rookie as an ‘‘inspiration’’.

However, some people question the impact of the blogging generation. Zhukova observes an increasing lightness and sense of humour in fashion journalism in which bloggers are unafraid to mock designers. She also suggests that there is a greater emphasis on individuality as the fashion power hierarchy is increasingly diluted when popular bloggers give their opinion. But it is Tavi who describes this unpretentious trend perfectly when she explains ‘’I really just find blogging fun, and love writing, and getting dressed’’.

To read Tavi’s style tips go to www.tavi-thenewgirlintown.blogspot.com

Fashion Geek Feature published in 'The Mancunion' 19/10/09.

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