You may or may not have heard of Tavi Gevinson, young fashion blogger turned fashion wunderkind. Recently she was in Toronto for IdeaCity as one of the “Fifty of the planet’s brightest minds” which is pretty remarkable, but what makes it even more remarkable is that Tavi is 14 years old; she just celebrated a birthday this past April.
Since starting her blog Tavi has been the inspiration for Roadarte’s line at Target, appeared in and written for multiple magazines including TeenVogue and Vogue, and recently covered New York Fashion Week for Jeanne Beker while she was at the Olympics. Tavi’s out of these world opportunities are thanks to her blog which continues to grow. After receiving constant criticism due to her age a lot of attention was turned her way when she appeared on Fashion Television. Jokes that Tavi would be replacing Jeanne Beker popped up on the internet much to my amusement.
Tavi was told to pick three shows to cover for which she chose Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang and Y-3; solid choices for a 14 year old (13 at the time). Having watched Tavi’s interviews with the designers and her takes on the fashion lines I was blown away at how much she knows and her manner of speaking was so refreshing in comparison to the shrill and often ‘too much’ style of Jeanne Beker. Due to Tavi’s age designers want to take her under their wing in order to give her as many opportunities as possible which is another reason why her interviews are more interesting because that sense of guidance comes across. It gives fashion a more welcoming quality and a glimmer of hope shines through in this small knowledgeable, articulated young girl.
When I first saw Tavi on Fashion Television I was shocked that they would give so much responsibility to a child basically, but I am so glad that they did. If Tavi can walk into Alexander Wang wearing barely any real “designer” names and speak to designer and models alike on their level, then fashion really has no limits. That scary world that people build it up to be in their heads doesn’t exist. At the heart of it fashion is about passion and creativity which is often forgotten, so thank you Tavi Gevinson for reminding us why we love fashion.
