In Tavi Gevinson‘s latest blog post she reflects on her last fashion week experience, the fashion fatigue she experienced (she couldn’t muster to strike up a conversation with Anna Wintour when she found herself seated next to the Vogue editrix at the Band of Outsiders show), and how New York fashion week felt “very high schooly” (this from the 14-year-old who is barely in high school).
She concludes her meandering, honest and rather poignant reflection by announcing that “my blog is turning away from fashion a little, naturally.” She continues, “How depressing would it be if I was that obsessed with only fashion for three years? That’s how old my blog will be in a few days. Strange.”
In between recounting sitting next to Anna Wintour (she describes the experience as unavoidably intimidating “even if you feel, as I did, like one of the only people in the room who isn’t after her job”) and her final pronouncement that her blog would shift away from its’ fashion focus, there’s a bit more about how she got to that place (beyond fashion’s “highschooliness” which is totally accurate about the industry):
Lately I’ve been looking to other places for a creative outlet and for inspiration. I miss following magazines and obsessively checking style.com the way I used to but something is different about it now. A year ago I got to go to Paris to interview John Galliano at Dior, and a couple weeks ago today he said he loved Hitler and got fired. Fashion photographs look more posed and the Rayanne Graffs I meet at school more inspiring. I only really miss being obsessed with fashion the way you miss any aspect of a former self, in a nostalgic way, not necessarily as part of a desire to go back.
Of course, Gevinson is slated to work with Jane Pratt on her newest venture, so her voice will still be present in lady media even if it is less fashiony. But whatever Gevinson does from here she’s made an indelible mark on the fashion world. Her presence at shows (especially when in the front row and wearing a giant view-blocking Stephen Jones bow hat) was often divisive. But she’s the reason a lot of people know what a blog is, she’s articulate and honest, and she’s one of the first personal style bloggers to have been truly embraced by the industry. Now maybe she can experience real high school instead of fashion high school. It will probably be more fun.
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I was nowhere near that articulate or self-aware as a fourteen-year-old. What I want to know is her parent’s parenting secret, or just any way to make my unborn children also sentient on this level after less than a decade and a half on Earth.
i was, there’s no secret, it is unconditional, open hearted, it wasn’t just my parents who ‘parented’ me, but my extended whanau/family too. it’s our ‘normal’, it’s what strengthens a family group to ensure the perpetuity of family tradittions, parenting …
We believe childrne are here to guide us, we learn from them, when you are in the presence of something so pure, divine, it is your responsibility to give only the best of yourself as a parent. to nurture, protect, teaching yourself and your child to appreciate that a word can have so many meanings … to communicate that profound awareness not only by how articulate you are, but more importantly by your manner and respect for your self and others.
It says a lot about parenting when i read the observations of mature adults commenting on the privileges Tavi has recieved. She may not have done the hard yards to experience the travails of the fashion world, but in my culture, it is her right to only receive the best anyway. To have her exposed to cruelty, vice, degenerative behaviour would be child abuse. She works hard at her craft and her vehicle to show her discerning eye and creative talent, was the effective way she has with words.
She brought many into her world, an alice in a wonderland, inviting people, older than she, a beautiful opportunity to see the world of fashion through her child’s eye that was not daunted by fear, prejudiced to seek attention. It was adults who put her on that pedestal and like vultures hunting carrion eager to defile further. Adults, parents, future parents … bbrrr god bless america.
i have to say i get where she’s coming from but isnt being bored right away is kind of a teenager’s mentality. Whatever she does she will bring her point of view and talent to write so Im sure she’ll be fine. She’s 14, she has so much time to experience so many opportunities.
follow jerrlife.blogspot.com everyone.
very sad … too adored as a savant and maybe pulling away for some reflection on what it all means.
neither black nor white and that takes time to navigate.
What an intelligent young woman.
She called it on the industry being too high school !
She called it on the industry being too high school !
Cry me a river, Tavi, if you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen. I’ve been studying and working in fashion for about 3 times as long as Tavi’s blog has been around and I cannot bring myself to turn my back on fashion (despite it’s many many faults) because a 14 year old who enjoyed countless perks that so many of us would love is starting to see that there’s a not so beautiful side of fashion behind what she’s sees on the runway.. I’m obviously a little peeved that someone like Tavi, who was privileged enough to sit front row at numerous fashion show without a fraction of the work and effort that others put in to making said show happen, is ridiculous. Yes, fashion can be very high school at times, but I’d respect that opinion from someone like Cathy Horyn, not Tavi. But alas, that is the nature of a teenager, is it not, if it’s cool it’s cool, when your bored move along and trash whatever was cool last week, right?
I’m sorry, but why are you blaming her for the opportunities she got? If you had, wouldn’t you take them? You work in fashion but Tavi’s only 14. So yes, she has a right to quit if she doesn’t feel the need to be working in junior high.
And from all the exposure she’s got, she’s giving her opinion on what she thinks of the fashion industry. She’s not saying she’s Cathy Horyn. She’s hardly the kind of kid who’s obsessed with “what’s cool”. She’s intelligent to say the least and she’s lucky, not privileged because she’s got every inch of her fame herself. She’s not, say, Julia Restoin Roitfeld.
The senseless Tavi bashing has to stop.
I think the whole reason people have enjoyed reading Tavi’s blog is because she ISN’T formally trained (obviously, she hasn’t lived long enough to have graduated….not a fault!) and she has an unbiased and personal point of view. A different point of view that has been sorely lacking. She’s not there to be a comparable with someone like Cathy Horyn or Hilary Alexander, she’s there for a totally different reason. It’s like comparing apples and oranges. You are an apple, she is an orange.
And this opinion comes from someone who has been working in fashion about 5x as long as Tavi’s blog has been around…
I think the whole reason people have enjoyed reading Tavi’s blog is because she ISN’T formally trained (obviously, she hasn’t lived long enough to have graduated….not a fault!) and she has an unbiased and personal point of view. A different point of view that has been sorely lacking. She’s not there to be a comparable with someone like Cathy Horyn or Hilary Alexander, she’s there for a totally different reason. It’s like comparing apples and oranges. You are an apple, she is an orange.
And this opinion comes from someone who has been working in fashion about 5x as long as Tavi’s blog has been around…
So very true. Tavi is an attention seeker. It was fun as long as she was getting all the attention. And now all of a sudden, it’s not fun anymore. Even the pictures in magazines look different to her. This happened when she decided she didn’t like fashion anymore. Good on Anna Wintour to not give her, her time of day!
Andi, i hear what you are saying, you are passionate about your love of fashion, it is your life. As human beings we are all at different levels of awareness, tavi and you have on thing in common, your love of fashion. However, both express your love and it’s place in your life, it’s effect on how you see your place and responsibility in the world … so very differently. that’s all, plain and simple. Be a little more unconditional, can you try a little? it may help you then to understand the place that Tavi has allowed fashion into her life … she does not allow fashion to own her … that’s why she’s not after Anna Wintour’s job, where so many fashionistas would be and would do anything to get it. Blessed Be
I was never one of those Tavi enthusiasts, nor one of those people who think she doesn’t deserve any respect because she’s young. But I feel like this is a great sign of maturity. Maybe it’s exactly because she’s so young that she is, after “only 3 years”, able to see past all the glamour, and, frankly, all the BS that surrounds the fashion industry (and probably any other creative industry, maybe even non-creative industries) and get bored. I don’t think it’s a matter of not being able to commit to something, of searching for the next “cool” thing, I think maybe she simply saw this world for what it is and lost interest, as any mature person would, in the high-school aspects of it all. She’s obviously not lost her passion or her creativity, maybe she’s just moving on and searching for things that truly mean something to her, instead of focusing on her status is the fashion world.
I think she’s simply growing up, which a lot of people will not understand, as they seem to refuse to do so.
I was never one of those Tavi enthusiasts, nor one of those people who think she doesn’t deserve any respect because she’s young. But I feel like this is a great sign of maturity. Maybe it’s exactly because she’s so young that she is, after “only 3 years”, able to see past all the glamour, and, frankly, all the BS that surrounds the fashion industry (and probably any other creative industry, maybe even non-creative industries) and get bored. I don’t think it’s a matter of not being able to commit to something, of searching for the next “cool” thing, I think maybe she simply saw this world for what it is and lost interest, as any mature person would, in the high-school aspects of it all. She’s obviously not lost her passion or her creativity, maybe she’s just moving on and searching for things that truly mean something to her, instead of focusing on her status is the fashion world.
I think she’s simply growing up, which a lot of people will not understand, as they seem to refuse to do so.
BS? Have you seen how many gifts she still recieves from designers etc? Let her turn that stuff down if she hates it so much!
Not wanting to be so involved in the industry doesn’t mean she’s giving up wearing clothes..
Direct quote from the post:
“Fashion Week is weird. It is very high schooly. Someone will take that and decide that it means Fashion Week highschooliness is getting me down hard without realizing how highschooly what they’re doing is.”
She is growing up and that’s what happens when little girls grow up. Things don’t look exactly the same as they used to. Her turning away from fashion to everything else just proves why they call adolescence the time when we come of age.
The saddest part of this to me is really that Tavi hasn’t even seen the really bad parts of the fashion industry — the incredibly menial parts with all the heavy lifting. She’s never had a impossibly demanding boss or been part of the army of underpaid assistants and unpaid interns. She’s gotten to do all the fun things that people dream of doing. She’s styled shoots, interviewed fashion luminaries… Well, I suppose everyone moves on.
Although Tavi is brilliant, smart, intuitive, and talented, she is a still a child. I showed her website to my boyfriend and he thought it was disturbing that parents would let their kid be exposed like this. I agree. Teenagers shouldn’t be idolized. She needs time to develop herself and just be young!
I can’t imagine the pressure she must have to face. I hope she knows that it is ok to change her mind about fashion. If she wants to she can be a doctor, a teacher, or musician. What I mean to say is that, I hope she doesn’t feel pressured into staying in one single role.
In the end, fashion is more than just clothes. It’s about history, culture, and time. I most admire editors such as Grace Coddington and the late Liz Tilberis. These are women who have references that Tavi doesn’t have and shouldn’t be expected to have either.
I agree with everything you say, but I still find Tavi extraordinary largely because of her great wealth of influence and references. She seems to have a keen sense of what she should be absorbing, whether or not it has ever been cool or occurred in her lifetime. Naturally she doesn’t have the years of experience to built skills like Grace Coddington, but the “knack” and natural taste she shows at such a young, impressionable age simply floors me.
Indeed (:
“Now maybe she can experience real high school instead of fashion high school. It will probably be more fun. “
Maybe Tavi has outgrown being a fashion follower (and an incredibly successful one at that) and is moving on to being a creative in her own right. I look forward to seeing what she chooses to do at 18.
To me, it’s seem like Tavi is just upset over the fact that she’s no longer the belle of the ball. I get the feeling that that nobody cared about her presence at this year’s fashion week in NYC. So basically, she’s turning away from fashion, before it shuts the door on her. If Lady Wintour had bothered to give Tavi her time of day, today’s blog post would have been very different. I can tell you that much.
The most annoying thing about her post is that her sweater is from Kathleen Hanna.
I see a lot of bitter people in this post. That is all.
It’s almost as though NOBODY realizes that the cattiness they’re typing is precisely what she was referring to, and that she’s right (even if she is only 14 or whatever so she can’t POSSIBLY be right about anything.)
Teenagers can be wise and professional adults can be really fucking daft.
I stated on The Cut Blog on NY Mag that her words were almost prophetic. She called them out before it happened, and they still bit the bait.
It goes to show just exactly how much more intelligence and cognizance she exhibits than some of her elders. LOL It’s funny when a child can teach you more than you can teach them.
I wish all the best for Tavi on her journey of Growth.
-fggofstyle
http://feelgoodgurustyle.blogspot.com
I think that Tavi could have stated that she’s interested in other things without slamming an entire industry, especially one that fed her. It reads more like sour grapes to me. Yes, last year she attended the Dior show in Paris. This year, she wasn’t invited. I just find it interesting that this bashing of fashion is coming after the fashion weeks are over for this season.
And, no, I’m not bitter at all. I actually read Tavi’s blog. It was never only about fashion, she would incorporate other aspects of art in her blog all the time. Now she has to make an announcement that the blog is going to be about fashion from another perspective. Evolution occurs naturally, a few days ago she posted an entire runway spread without reservation. Mind you, that this incident with Anna Wintour occured a long time ago. So, the her evolution would have been a progress from then on, and not just an event for her recent post.
I just find it peculiar that she all of a sudden, in the post where she has to write about her NYC fashion week experience, slams it (she slams the weeks that came before, too) Prior to this blog post entry, there was only one other entry of her time in NYC, which read like a lot of her other outfit posts that could have taken place anywhere. Meaning, that nothing happened in NYC to make the trip exciting. So now Tavi hates fashion. Give me a break!
And, may I add, this kid sell Yves Saint Laurent ispired t-shirts on her blog!
reading tavi’s blog makes me feel really creepy. she is obviously 14, a mature 14 year old, but a 14 year old none the less. the poison being spewed her way is quite disturbing. leave the kid alone. she is having fun and growing up, like we all did. unfortunately, there are a bunch of adults watching her (creepy) and measuring her by their own “adult” standards which she has no part or knowledge of.
when something stops being fun, no child should be forced to continue doing it. she is growing up and it is really great that she is so self-aware. no one should be shocked or annoyed by this as it has nothing to do with them. it in no way reflects on the fashion industry or the people involved in it. it is a young adult experiencing the world and i think that is pretty wonderful.
i know that i am very glad i don’t still love all of the same things with the same intensity that i did as a tween or teenager.
Yes, a bunch of creepy old people are watching her. Where? Through her window? Why is she on teh Internet? Why are her parents allowing her accept gifts from adult PR people who watch her? She shouldn’t even have been at the fashions shows at her age to begin with!
yes, people are watching her. you need not resort to sarcasm or internet-speak to illustrate that, yes, this occurs (mainly) on the internet. the fact that it is on the internet does not make it any less creepy. people do read her blog, photograph her and post about her on their own blogs. this not in and of itself “creepy”, however, the responses that are evoked by this teen are often quite disturbing.
now, you appear to be conflating a variety of issues in your nonsensical response. what precisely is your problem with her or her post? the moral “where are her parents” arguement? a “fashion has no place for children”, ageist argument? the vigor with which you are defending the nastiness toward this teenager is quite baffling.
again, tavi is a young girl and i don’t think that we can apply “adult” standards to her or her experiences.
We shouldn’t judge her by adult standards, I agree. But, please be aware that Tavi, is no longer just a kid, she’s a product with a PR Management. So we don’t know if her thoughts are just innocents thoughts, or clever marketing strategies. That is why I agree with Anna’s post above.
janet, you appear to be a little too outraged by this and end up coming off as quite paranoid and bitter.
Everyone is so resentful. If you think she’s a fraud, a senseless child, someone who isn’t being properly raised, an “attention seeker” (it feels childish to say it EVEN if I’m paraphrasing), then why would you care if she’s not as interested in fashion as an industry anymore? I mean, the girl writes one blog post about not caring for the BUSINESS of fashion, and everyone responds as though they had been slapped in the face. If you don’t think she’s worth any attention, why would you care if she’s stepping out? It just feels like all of this criticism is coming from people who feel rejected. It’s the most high-schooly thing there is: “Fine, if you don’t wanna be part of my superspecialpopularandfabulous clique, then you MUST be a loser”. If you think so little of her, you should be glad she’s stepping out of your way.
And I disagree that she didn’t deserve the space she was given. Maybe she didn’t work for a hundred thousand years for some really mean boss, but she did do something. She put herself out there, her own opinions, in her own way. I’m not gonna argue the validity of what she does (although if respectable people in this industry bought it, it probably means it’s valid), but the fact is she is doing something, which is more than a lot of people can say for themselves.
As for the gifts and such, I don’t know why everyone is so appalled. She is far more relevant in the industry than most young starlets who get a lot more perks. If she has been so actively involved in this industry for the past couple of years, why is it hypocritical of her to accept gifts? And even after this blog post… The girl is not exactly saying she dislikes fashion or that she is, in fact, renouncing it. She’s just saying she lost interest in the egomaniacal aspects of it. If a designer chooses to give her clothes, they certainly have far more interest in that than her. It’s not as if she’s out there because of the gifts – in fact, if it were, she’d just keep on showing up and faking interest instead of so openly writing about her disenchantment with Fashion Week.
I don’t think she’s a fraud or senseless child at all. I think she’s a brilliant business woman. Do you think for one second that Tavi is going to turn down the promotional items sent to her by designers? When that my friend, is the business side of fashion. Or future paid trips to Paris fashion week (if they’ll invite her that is)? My point is more, why is she slamming it now? And don’t tell me growth!
Kathleen Hanna’s “Feminist” sweater…
Tavi is brilliant. She will be amazing wherever she goes.
Sydneynycld@gmail.com
SHE’S A TEENAGER!!!
christ, if i was still interested in some of the things i loved when i was 14, i’d be dead.
or a raver.
so what if her interests change? better now then when she is 32 and full of self-loathing. the new generation growing up on the internet is privy to opportunities and experiences most of us only dreamed about when we were her age. that is the changing of culture and time. we need to expect that shit like this will happen a lot with the new ‘blogger turned fashion celebrity’ lifestyle. we are over-inundated with images so often now, that are moving faster than fashion ever did in the past. we should only anticipate things and feelings like this. guess what? this industry is changing! surprise!
i sit and watch some of those fashion shows on youtube and can’t imagine how people go from show to show, watching all of that ugly, faux art. with few exceptions, i can only watch them for a few minutes then turn it off. a lot of it just looks stupid – like it can’t possibly come from an intelligent person.
it’s not that she’s young and has no attention span. maybe it’s that she wants to find something more meaningful. fashion is not that meaningful people.
and, i hardly think the most brilliant minds work in fashion, despite what the deluded among you believe. lmao.
good for tavi. find true meaning and art and creative expression cuz those things are not the exclusive domains of dior, armani, prada, or whoever.
get a grip people.
I wish I had Runner Runner every morning #themorningblend http://t.co/LfO4Y03