Fashion’s After-School Fetish

At the Vogue and IMG-hosted fete celebrating the launch of Model.Live -- a reality series following three fledgling IMG models as they attempt to navigate the fashion industry -- last night at Gemma, there was plenty to catch a fashion fanatic's eye. The three, newbie models -- Cato, Austria, and Melanie -- were on hand (each decked out in a distinctive LBDs). Meanwhile, a few seasoned supes like Kirsty Hume and Jacquetta Wheeler were likewise in attendance, upping the fashion ante. But perhaps especially of note was a Balenciaga-clad, pint-sized, pale-faced 18-year-old shuffling around the restaurant, always within arms' reach of Paper mag's Mickey Boardman.

The strawberry blonde in question was Paper’s relatively recent hire—a fashion contributor by the name of Julia Frakes. The granddaughter of a former New York Times book critic, and niece and goddaughter of Star Trek alum Jonathan Frakes, Julia appears poised as one of the fashion industry’s next it-girls du jour (that is, if Boardman has his way). The latter was happily introducing her to everyone in sight, while fashionistas drooled over her iconic floral ensemble plucked from Nicolas Ghesquiere’s Spring/Summer 08 collection. Considering NYC-based 12-year-old fashion blogger Tavi has garnered mentions in national media outlets, and 15-year-old fashionista Camille of Childhood Flames has also made a splash on the blogosphere, it’s obvious tween fashion bloggers are soon to be touted as the next big thing. And, of course, the phenomenon begs the question: Is such a feverish interest in fashion healthy for teens? I’ll plead the fifth for now. But don’t doubt for a second that my 15-year-old self isn’t totally envious that Blogspot wasn’t up and running back in the day.

Photo by Patrick McMullan.