NYLON - October 2007 - (Page 126) The It Girl was born in 1927 when an actress from Brooklyn named Clara Bow starred in a silent film called It, crystallizing her status as the beauty and fashion icon of her time. The flapper and romance novelist Elinor Glyn (who penned the novella It was based on) was responsible for coining the term “It Girl”—a person who in some intangible way captures and channels the zeitgest of an era, and thus the imagination of the culture at large. At first the phenomenon was considered ephemeral: an It Girl would have a limited run, either rising to greater heights and household recognition or, conversely, her star would diminish. The list of 20th- and 21st-century It Girls is long, storied, and well-dressed, reaching into the elite upper echelons of society (Talitha Getty, Nancy Cunard) and culling from the ranks of famous faces (Twiggy, Kate Moss—who, incredibly, has never lost “it,” holding steady for over a decade) to rock ’n’ roll and Tinseltown talent (everyone from Marianne Faithfull to Goldie Hawn to Scarlett Johansson). In the annals of pop culture, images of It Girls loom large, wielding a powerful influence even to this day. Who can forget the devastating glamour of Talitha Getty in a kaftan in Marrakesh; the IS THIS IT? original sex kitten, Brigitte Bardot, on the beach in the Riviera; or fashion renegade Chlöe Sevigny brazenly donning shorts for the red carpet? Today, however, It Girls are more self-aware—not to mention selfmade—than ever. Thanks to the rise of the Internet, and the rampant popularity of MySpace, party-photo sites, and blogging, an unknown girl with a fresh look and an original voice can garner the attention of thousands—without ever leaving her bedroom, whether it’s in New York or Kansas City. One conspicuous example is that of Sarah Lewitinn, a New Jersey native and former SPIN magazine assistant, who made her mark on the indie music scene with a blog, ultragrrrl.blogspot.com, that ignited not only her own career (she now helms a record label and has authored two books), but also helped bands like the Killers and My Chemical Romance gain renown. Kate Schelter, the creative consultant whose eponymous image branding agency’s clients include adidas Y3, Jalouse magazine, and iTunes, among others, says: “The Internet has made more people famous than ever before.” She has a section of her business dedicated to what she calls “It Vision” to help her clients develop a hipper image. “Back in the ’70s, a groovy party would be photographed by one, maybe two photographers—say Ron Gallella and Patrick McMullan,” she says. “Today there are more photographers than guests, so there’s more of a contrived element and less of a candid experience. The key to being an It Girl is to still manage to show yourself and be vulnerable—to give a keyhole into your soul.” Mark the Cobrasnake, the 22-year-old L.A.based photographer whose Web site is partly responsible for propelling girls like Cory Kennedy into the public eye, however, considers himself primarily a documentarian. “Some people expect me to find the next big thing, but I’m just there to see what happens,” he demurs. Pati Dubroff, the celebrity makeup artist responsible for helping create the looks of Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, and Liv Tyler agrees. “Today’s girls are more exposed—for better or worse. The girls who just use celebrity for its own sake will burn out eventually,” she says. “There is a fine line between branding and overexposure, showing your face in too many ads, for example. You want to keep people interested.” Or, as the Cobrasnake puts it, “Now you have everyone’s attention. What are you gonna do with it? That’s the challenge.” Amid all the fairy-tale stories of It Girls, there’s a cautionary aspect, too. Much of being an It Girl has always been about visibility on the party scene. “I cannot stress enough how too much partying in front of the media—and in dangerous ways—does not have to be part of the package,” Dubroff says. Think of Edie Sedgwick, who burned the candle at both ends at Andy Warhol’s Factory (although, tragically, burning out probably helped Sedgwick’s legend, as evidenced by the film Factory Girl, not to mention her THE ALLURE OF THE IT GIRL HAS ALWAYS BEEN HARD TO DEFINE. HERE, 12 CANDIDATES FOR FUTURE FASHION ICON STATUS. enduring influence on fashion designers). And while you can hardly fault anyone, particularly with the privileges fledgling fame allows, for wanting to have a good time, it’s hard for It Girls these days to avoid the accusations the tabloid press are so quick to throw at them. Anyone who is able to maintain the public’s interest for the right reasons—“not just for making noise at a party,” as Schelter puts it—is triumphing over our all-too-human tendency to gloat at the misfortunes of others, particularly when they happen to have lives much more glamorous than ours. The fact is, though many It Girls parlay themselves to celebrity thanks to incredible genes, talent is often a deciding factor in ensuring someone has staying power. Actresses like Liv Tyler and Sienna Miller may have first catapulted to fame thanks to sex appeal or a high-profile boyfriend, but they proved their talent after the fact. According to Odile Roujoul, the president of Lancôme, “In the past you could get by on beauty alone. Today it takes a combination of beauty, accomplishment, and je ne sais quoi.” Roujoul should know: The cosmetics empire’s current face, Elettra Rossellini-Wiedemann, recently became the first secondgeneration spokeswoman (mom, Isabella, is Lancôme’s former face). Rossellini-Wiedemann has the complete package: ultra-cool style (she’s a champion of indie fashion), good looks, a degree from a tony private college in New York, and, of course, a major advertising campaign. Whatever “It” is—forever elusive and indefinable—this month, NYLON celebrates the It Girl in all her guises, from model to Internet blogger to starlet to athlete to singer to socialite, as she continues to help define modern-day culture and pave the way for future trendsetters. JENNY FELDMAN ELETTRA ROSSELLINI-WIEDEMANN PHOTOGRAPHED BY ANGELA BOATWRIGHT stylist: nicolas klam. hair: ted gibson for jed root at tedgibsonbeauty.com. makeup: daniel martin for lancôme shot at whiplash studio. jacket by ralph lauren collection. http://tedgibsonbeauty.com
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