Teenage writer, fashion blogger and editor Tavi Gevinson is shown in a recent handout photo.–Photo by Reuters.

NEW YORK: Tavi Gevinson has accomplished more in her 16 years than most people double her age.

The style blogger, writer and darling of the fashion set launched a fashion blog from her suburban Chicago home before she turned 12. Two years later it was getting 50,000 hits a day and she was a fixture in the front row of fashion shows in New York, Paris and Tokyo.

Profiles of the young fashionista followed in the New York Times and the New Yorker, along with stories in French Vogue and in teen magazines.

Gevinson has added editor to her credits with the publication of “Rookie Yearbook One,” a compilation of articles, photographs and drawings from her Rookie website, which she started about 15 months ago.

“I always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to do a print component. Each month on the site is a different theme. I eventually realized that to do a yearly book, and call it a yearbook, would be the best format,” she said.

The second book, due next September, is already in the works.

Despite its young audience, the yearbook claims it is not a guide to being a teenager. But with topics ranging from family, friends, relationships, to fashion and school its appeal is obvious.

Gevinson admits she started the website, which focuses less on fashion and more on teen life, because there wasn't an online magazine for adolescent girls that respected its readers' intelligence.

“I decided to make a website and now a book that didn't talk down to teenagers and had beautiful art, fine articles about TV and all of that.”

From bedroom blogger to booming business

With more than 300 pages, 80 contributors, and articles ranging from “How to Bitchface” to “Breakup Breakdown” and “How to Approach the Person You Like Without Throwing Up,” the book navigates teenage angst and a range of other topics and includes photos and graphics.

“Rookie is a place to make the best of the beautiful pain and cringe-worthy awkwardness of being an adolescent girl,” is how Gevinson described it.

It has also attracted some star power, namely online interviews with “Mad Men's” Jon Hamm giving advice about love and guys, and wise words from actor Paul Rudd and producer/director Judd Apatow.

When Gevinson started her blog at 11 she saw it as an outlet that helped her get through middle school. She never expected it to mushroom into a website and the business it is today with a huge fan base.

The youngest of three children, Gevinson recently completed a tour to Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Toronto and other cities to promote the book and still manages to keep up with her school work.

Her father, a retired English teacher, oversees the business side of Rookie, and there is a staff of paid adult editors, photographers and designers who work on the website and manage its contributors.

Despite it all, Gevinson seems unfazed by her success and the celebrity status that has come with it.

“I've enjoyed feeling I make something and people understand it, and that there are other people going through the things that I go through,” she said. “That to me is the most valuable thing - being heard by people who understand it.”

Opinion

Editorial

Slow start
Updated 15 Jun, 2024

Slow start

Despite high attendance, the NA managed to pass only a single money bill during this period.
Sindh lawlessness
Updated 15 Jun, 2024

Sindh lawlessness

A recently released report describes the law and order situation in Karachi as “worryingly poor”.
Punjab budget
15 Jun, 2024

Punjab budget

PUNJAB’S budget for 2024-25 provides much fodder to those who believe that the increased provincial share from the...
Budget and politics
Updated 14 Jun, 2024

Budget and politics

PML-N, scared of taking bold steps lest it loses whatever little public support it has, has left its traditional support — traders — virtually untouched.
New talks?
14 Jun, 2024

New talks?

WILL this prove another false start, or may we expect a more sincere effort this time? Reference is made to the...
A non-starter
14 Jun, 2024

A non-starter

WHILE the UN Security Council had earlier this week adopted a US-backed resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza...