Tavi is a Fashion Genius?

Have any of you heard of Style Rookie? It is a blog by this 13 (maybe 14 now) year old girl (Tavi Gevinson) who started it when she was 11. She is obsessed with fashion and has a really impressive knowledge base about fashion history. She's also clearly a smart and interesting girl who references a lot of cool stuff in her blog. She's become really famous probaby mostly because she's so young. She become so famous that major designers (Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano, the Mulleavy sisters of Rodarte to name a few) have invited her to see their runway shows... in Paris! She's been travelling the world, doing speaking engagements on teenage marketing, collaborating with designers and magazines on ad campaigns and fashion layouts. I mean, she is amazing. The New Yorker just did a big article on her and the uproar her cult status is causing. As you might expect, some fashion big-wigs are totally put off by the whole idea of this kid as a fashion genius. Some people even suggest that she's selling out for accepting gifts and money from designers, brands, selling tee shirts, etc. I think that is totally hilarious. I mean, what's the problem with the kid figuring out how to cash in? Was Mark Zuckerberg a sell-out because he found a way to get rich young? Or, to keep it more on the creative industry-front, any musician who gets a big record deal when they are a kid (Britney, Rihanna, David Archuleta)? Ridiculous.

Here's what I do question, though. Is Tavi really such a fashion goddess herself? I've seen a hundred young people over the years rocking this exact same look. Part vintage/thrift store, part clashing patterns and colors, part purposefully messy bag lady. As a matter of fact, she's like a cross between Mary Kate Olsen meets Susie Bubble meets Lisa Loeb. Not that original. What I like about her much more than her personal style is her personality. She's very self aware and world aware, too. Like most kids, her innocence gives her great (and brutally truthful!) insight. Long live Style Rookie. Check her out and see what you think. www.thestylerookie.com