How does a 13 year old blogger reach fifty thousand daily viewers?
I recently read in the New Yorker about Tavi Gevinson, a teenage fashion blogger from the suburbs of Chicago. I am sure a lot of people are very familiar with her by now, as she has the fashion world at her feet.
Tavi was eleven years old in 2008 when she started writing a fashion blog called Style Rookie: http://www.thestylerookie.com/
Her blog debuted with a short entry titled: The New Girl in Town. She describes herself as a ”tiny 13-year-old dork that sits inside all day wearing awkward jackets and pretty hats”. She posts pictures of herself wearing distinctive, often busy, outfits mixing different styles and periods, colors and patterns. The blog shows paper clippings of runway shows, obscure and provocative inspiration from the art, music and movie world. She is a smart cookie and her comments are remarkably sharp and evaluative, so much in fact that some people have questioned the legitimacy of her writing.
It didn’t take long for the fashion world to discover such a unique individual and her blog has grown from 2,000 viewers to 50,000 each day. The fashion industry has gone out of its way to court Tavi and her rise to fashion fame made her an icon. She has collaborated with the award winning designers such as the sisters for the Rodarte for Target line and is often seen in the front rows of the season’s biggest fashion shows.
What is so fascinating to me is that through the internet and blogging in particular, she was able to break down the traditional barriers to enter the prestigious fashion world. Who would listen to a thirteen year old blogger? What makes her so special?
I am intrigued and inspired by how effortlessly and independently she expresses herself. I could say, “well that is the innocence or non-inhibition of a thirteen year old,” but why should these qualities only be reserved to a teen? She makes me see things differently and think about them differently; she offers a perspective I have not yet considered. And this is coming from an industrial designer that is surrounded by creativity and talented people. What I admire is her genuine and fresh unique point of view. I find her a little mysterious and her style provocative and edgy. She is pushing the boundaries of the common and expected so gracefully, yielding a sharp cutting edge point of view. She is fierce and I am inspired by that!
Tavi refuses to fit in, she has no rules, no restrictions and aims to please no one. As designers, we would be out of work if we didn’t please our clients. But how much must be aimed at pleasing and how much of pushing the limits can we do to make a difference. I believe every designer has a voice; the trick is to amplify that voice to the extreme until it maybe falls apart, but to test it all the way. Cultivate it, make it your own and be genuine, no copying, be yourself, be unique! Prove it!
Tavi’s live moodboards.
Check out this video of: Tavi + Rodarte for Target
