AUTHOR, EDITOR, AND ACTRESS UNITED STATESFeminism to me means fighting. It’s a very nuanced, complex thing; but at the very core of it, I’m a feminist because I don’t think being a girl limits me in any way.
—TAVI GEVINSON
Up on the runway, Chanel models paraded by, wearing gray, silver, black, and white. Frilly dresses, sleek pantsuits, and gaudy hair bows made of tulle and silk, beads and leather—everything in that icy palette. Tavi perched on the edge of a silver couch—it was her first time at Paris’s Fashion Week and she didn’t want to miss a thing.
In honor of the show’s theme, Tavi was decked out in a swirling silver dress, a baggy black sweater, and a black pillbox hat atop her silver-dyed hair. In her signature big glasses, Tavi looked more like a little old lady than a fourteen-year-old. That was fine by Tavi; she had her own style and didn’t care what other people thought.
She had been flown to Paris to work, reporting for a fashion TV show. After the last model sashayed off the stage, Tavi waited to meet the designer: a man with a white ponytail, wearing a charcoal-gray suit, skinny silver tie, and matching silver biker gloves.
When it was Tavi’s turn, they shook hands and chatted for a few minutes. “She has a fresh eye,” the designer told the camera. “She’s not ruined by zillions of bad collections.”
“Thank you very much,” said Tavi.
“I like your hair color,” he added, touching her locks. “Normally, children—young people—don’t have this hair color. It’s great to have it.”1
After they said their good-byes, Tavi smiled as she walked away, the camera crew hustling after her.
Karl Lagerfeld, world-famous head designer for Chanel, liked her hair color! Tavi couldn’t wait to write about it in her blog.
Tavi Gevinson wasn’t just any teen blogger. By the ripe old age of fourteen, she was a fashion prodigy and a style icon, especially for young style makers. And she would eventually move beyond fashion into pop culture, politics, and feminism, becoming a voice for her entire generation.
Tavi was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in the suburb Oak Park. Her father was a high school English teacher, and her mother was a weaver who had immigrated from Norway. Tavi’s parents raised the family in the Jewish faith and encouraged their three daughters to be creative. Tavi, their youngest, was always working on some creative project, whether it was a collage, a sculpture, or an outfit. She remembers that, as a child, she liked “the theatrical idea of fashion—that you can make up different characters.”2 She filled binders with clippings from fashion magazines and created her own unusual ensembles from clothes she got at Goodwill.
When she was eleven, she started a fashion blog called Style Rookie. She posted photos of herself modeling unusual outfits and she commented on fashion trends. Tavi impressed readers with her incredible knowledge of fashion history combined with her eloquent but funny, down-to-earth tone. Fans also loved the experimental style of her outfits.
In Tavi’s 100th Style Rookie blog post, she announced her fashion manifesto: “In my opinion, the most interesting fashion is the Anti-Fashion. No rules, no restrictions, no normalcy, no pleasing anyone . . . I’m twelve! I have no one to impress and I’m not concerned about wearing something flattering to my body. I will dress as ugly and crazy as I want as long as I’m still young enough to get away with it. Suckerssss.”6
At first, just a few kids read the blog. But word spread fast, and soon, Style Rookie had fifty thousand readers a day!3 Tavi’s parents had no idea it was so popular until one day when Tavi asked them for permission to be interviewed by the New York Times, which was doing an article on teen bloggers. Suddenly, Tavi was getting invitations to Fashion Week in New York and Paris; top fashion designers were flying her around the world to see their latest lines; and she was fielding offers to write for magazines, to give talks, to star in commercials, and even to design her own line of clothing!
Tavi was psyched that people loved her blog, but she didn’t like the backlash. Some in the fashion community and media complained that she wasn’t experienced enough. A few even claimed that Tavi’s mom or older sisters must be writing the blogs—no kid could be that good. It bothered Tavi enough that she sometimes cried herself to sleep. “A lot of people on the internet have a problem with a young person doing well,” she said of that time.4
Tavi owns a pair of leather gloves once owned by world-famous style icon and actress Audrey Hepburn. They were given to Tavi by another famous style icon: ’90s actress Winona Ryder. Audrey gave them to Winona when Winona turned eighteen, and Winona gave them to Tavi when Tavi turned eighteen.5
Eventually, Tavi quit letting the haters get to her. Her fresh voice and honest opinions were a magnet not just for teens but for jaded fashion “experts” as well. Amy Astley, the former editor of Teen Vogue, said, “Sometimes I say to my staff, ‘Wow, I had more fun reading the blog of this teenager than reading professional copy that we wrote.’ ”7
After four years of writing Style Rookie, Tavi was ready for something new. At age fifteen, she founded Rookie, a web magazine written by teen girls (including Tavi) that focuses on issues impacting other teen girls. Tavi, Rookie’s editor in chief, wanted it to be the anti-Seventeen: a smart magazine for girls all about self-expression. Tavi and others wrote about fashion but also pop culture, politics, and feminism. Rookie passed one million page views in its first week!
Tavi’s favorite Rookie interviews were the ones she did with Lorde, Emma Watson, Sky Ferreira, Miley Cyrus, and David Hildebrand Wilson (whose name you may not recognize, but he’s the co-founder of LA’s quirky Museum of Jurassic Technology). Check them out at rookiemag.com.
Tavi had another runaway hit on her hands, and she used her platform to speak out on a variety of issues. In 2012, she spoke at TEDxTeen on how women are represented in pop culture, and then again at the Economist’s World in 2012 Festival. Tavi has twice made Forbes magazine’s “30 Under 30: Media” list, and she was on Time magazine’s list of “The 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014.”
Tavi conquered fashion when she was a tween, and magazine publishing in her teens. What’s next for this creative force? Recently, she has branched out into acting. Her first movie was First Bass in 2008, and since then, she’s been in several more, including the 2012 award-winning Enough Said. She has also starred in Broadway plays, including This Is Our Youth, with Michael Cera and Kieran Culkin.
Tavi has this motto on her wall: “There is not enough time for hating [yourself]. Too many things to make. Go.”8
In 2016, Tavi enrolled at New York University. When asked what she wanted to do when she grows up, Tavi responded in a blog post titled “Dreams”: “I wish I was a cat. I would have a life to fulfill my fashion dreams, one to fulfill my acting dreams, one for guitar, one for writing, one for movie directing, one for fine arts, one for a normal life, and one for teaching. . . . Also I could poop in a box.”9
With all she’s done already, there’s little doubt that Tavi will have her nine lives. And she will rock each one.