Charles Baudelaire, the 19th century French poet, wrote that “anybody, providing he knows how to be amusing, has the right to talk about himself.” If he were alive today he would be a blogger. Or so thinks Mabi, a character on the popular Brazilian soap opera TiTiTi. According to her, Baudlaire would be all about multimedia self-advertising, would likely be a model and “emo.” Mabi, played by teenaged actress Clara Tiezzi, should certainly know about such things. According to the show’s official website, she “maintains a polemic blog where she criticizes, with wit and class, everything and everyone in the fashion industry.” She dresses in a manner quite different to most young Brazilian women, combining large lens glasses, bow-ties worn over tee-shirts and bows or feathery fascinators placed atop her short blonde hair.

Does she remind anyone else of another teenage fashion blogger, famous for her distinctive style and witty bon mots? Her name is two letters off and her manner of dress, her age and her blogging about fashion all point directly to Tavi Gevinson. I knew that Tavi’s blog, The Style Rookie, was widely read in North America, but I had no idea she was so famous back home.

I should explain that soap operas are a big deal in Brazil. They air at prime time and entire families are transfixed by their dramas. My 95-year old Nana, who never learned to read or write, watches them daily and discusses them endlessly with her neighbours. Viewed by millions, Brazilian soaps both reflect what’s going on in the culture and influence it, starting trends in fashion and music and even affecting the way people speak, inserting slang into our beloved Portuguese. To a certain extent, they are pop culture.

When I think more about it, it’s not surprising that TiTiTi would create a Tavi-inspired character, as fashion blogging has taken off in the two years since I came to Canada. They seem to be everywhere! I wonder if the character of Mabi, reflecting the growing presence of teenage bloggers (they didn’t cast an adult actor, after all), will further inspire young women to publish their thoughts online. Although superficially being like Tavi, the writers could have done more to capture her personality and intelligence.

This clip, in which Mabi tries to convince her writer friend to start “worrying about his image” and upgrade his look because “marketing is everything,” doesn’t gel with Tavi’s belief that the internet can subvert the style industry’s status quo. Unlike fashion, which often entails rules, style, as she recently told WORN in an interview, is about being original and creative. Let’s hope that TiTiTi viewers take away this lesson as well.

by Deua Medeiros
as told to Max Mosher

Chances are, if you have even a passing interest in industry fashion, Tavi needs no introduction. Since starting her articulate fashion blog Style Rookie in April 2008, the now fourteen year old has become something of a celebrity both online and off. Case in point: when she wrote about her visit to the WORN Offices last month, I got no less than five e-mails from people I hadn’t spoken to in years saying some variation of “OH MY GOD CONGRATS FOR GETTING MENTIONED ON THE STYLE ROOKIE!” (for the record, friends of mine from middle school, we wrote about it here first).

Tavi was in town for Toronto’s Idea City, at which she spoke about the need for a Sassy-esque teen magazine for the new generation. We had a chance to talk to her about about the state of fashion today.

Is there a difference between fashion and style? If so, what is it?
There definitely is, but I’m not sure how to pinpoint it. I think style has a much clearer definition than fashion, which is such a broad term… I think the difference that is the most clear to me is that style gives more opportunities to be subversive while fashion usually entails rules. If you’re stylish, you’re creative and original, and if you’re fashionable, you know how to look attractive and uncontroversial.

When evaluating a fashion collection, do you think the aesthetics or the context of the clothes are more important?
I think about this a lot. I’m really not sure. I think it’s very difficult to project ideas through clothing, and I like that designers are creative with their sets and music and hair and makeup. It makes it more fun, plus fashion is very much about presentation. And, even if a designer chose not to use these elements at all, they would still be making a statement, I think? So I guess that when I look at a collection, I use the theatrical elements to help me interpret the designer’s message, but I interpret the strength of the actual collection by looking at how well the clothes can stand on their own without being dependent on the set and music and all that.

Has your opinion on any fashion labels changed after meeting the designers and learning more about the ideas that go into their lines?
Yes. Seeing Kate Mulleavy talk about her dresses (which I was seeing in real life for the first time, which is quite an experience) and about all the work and inspiration that goes into them put Rodarte even higher up on my favorite designers list.

I love Prada and Comme des Garcons forever, but learning that there was more of a team and less Miuccia Prada and Rei Kawakubo doing the designing was a bit disheartening. I suppose it was ignorant of me to imagine them sketching in a dark room with a single lightbulb alone at night, but still.

What level (if any) of responsibility and accountability do you think the fashion industry should have in presenting a diverse image of beauty? Do you think it’s important? Why? Where do you see opportunities for change (if you think change is needed)?
Oh man, hefty issue. It all goes back to the Charles Barkley quotation about being a role model… on one hand, I don’t think artistic vision should be compromised, but on the other, these images have influence whether those behind them want them to or not. Change is certainly needed but I’m not sure how to go about that. Something is definitely to be said for the way blogs and the Internet could help this movement.

What role do you think magazines have in fashion?
They have become more sacred now in the age of the Internet. Now you know that what you’re getting in the magazine you’re buying is really good, because it made print and didn’t go on their website. They’re part of the conversation in a way they weren’t before… I think magazines now play the role of inspiring as opposed to acting like guides, since it’s more convenient for everyone if trend reports and all that remain online. There is a need in magazines for timelessness, now that fashion moves even quicker than usual because of the Internet. The role they play is to give the readers the best of the best of the best; what is special enough to print. I think there’s also something to be said for the way print is becoming an increasingly more intimate thing… I know that my favorite magazines that I buy in print and cherish deserve tangibility either because they’re so beautiful and inspiring and high-quality or because I relate to them and that’s more special to hold in your hands. Olivier Zahm just complained about how bloggers don’t allow editors to have points of view, and this isn’t true — editors just need to strengthen theirs (I am certainly not saying all editors in general, I mean the ones who are getting nervous). When it comes to bloggers vs. editors, it’s the best content that will be the most successful. But really, I don’t think there needs to be any winners. Different people like different things and have different taste, and I think there can be something for everyone. Let’s all just coexist together. Man, I’m such a hippie!

interview by Anna Fitzpatrick
photography courtesy of thestylerookie.com

A couple of weeks ago I had a conversation with WORN’s Editor-in-Pants, Serah-Marie (whose living room doubles as the WORN offices), that went something like this:*

Me: I am coming to Toronto for a week.
Her: Sounds good!
Me: I might need to crash on your couch while I’m in town.
Her: Can’t wait!
Me: I’ll also probably raid your fridge and watch all your Gilmore Girls DVDs.
Her: We’re ready for you!
Me: Also, my blogger friends Tavi and Isabel are in town, and I might bring them around for a tour.
Her: …Dang, now I’ll need to tidy the place up.

As general fans of anybody with intelligent things to say about fashion, it was a delight and a half to have these ladies come around. Being a typical work day, the office was filled with Wornettes.

Left to right: Deua, yours truly, Stephanie, Tavi, Isabel and Hillary

Our guests spend a minute or two examining our fashion library, followed by two hours (give or take) of ogling a Star Wars Pez collection.

Tavi is fascinated by the inside of a barrel of monkeys. We’ve all been there.

Gathering around to look at proofs from a recent photoshoot for issue 11 (out this fall). Excited? We know it’s a long wait, but we’ve got the recent release of issue 10 to tide you over.

Stephanie Wornette is so hard at work that it cannot even be accurately captured on camera.

To the left, Tavi continues to earn her title of “Wornette” by making pins to go out with recent subscriptions. To the right, she poses with an equally purple Serah-Marie.

After a hard day’s work (okay, more like 20 minutes), Isabel, Tavi and I departed the WORN offices to explore downtown Toronto. Not captured on our cameras (but Isabel’s got some good shots): Kensington Market, Honest Ed’s, and Tavi’s first Tim Hortons experience.

- Anna Fitz

* I am paraphrasing for dramatic effect. To my knowledge, Serah-Marie has never used the word ‘dang’ in casual conversation.