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Gwen Stefani's sweet life
From pop-punk queen to fashion icon and celebrity mom, Gwen Stefani has forged a one-woman empire.
By Kerry Potter
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Have your fashion questions answered here by our expert, Miss Chic!
The sweet escape
Musically, The Sweet Escape sees Stefani sticking with what she knows (insane single "Wind It Up" aside, with its Sound of Music-inspired yodelling), and many of her collaborators -- notably Pharrell Williams and Linda Perry -- remain on board. The latter -- a former rock singer who has sprinkled her writing and production gold dust on the works of Christina Aguilera, Pink and Courtney Love of late -- has known Stefani since the mid-'80s, when they were the only two girls in bands on their label, Interscope. "Gwen is very humble, intelligent and very dorky -- I like that about her," says Perry. "She's like a secret weapon -- her humility means you don't realize how powerful she is."
Visually, like any self-respecting chameleon, Stefani has moved on for this album, dropping the Alice stuff in favour of a trashy-sexy new look inspired by Michelle Pfeiffer's character Elvira Hancock in the gangster movie Scarface. "I was in Lake Como, filming a video, and went out to dinner with a girlfriend who was wearing a really long, clingy, peach polyester dress," she says. "It really reminded me of that movie. I worked the look into my spring/summer 2007 L.A.M.B. collection, and it rolled over into the music too."
Fashion and style... long term
Although the celebrity-clothing range is often shorthand for ego gone wild, Stefani -- who launched her streetwear line in 2005 -- seems to genuinely enjoy designing clothes. Yes, it's an extension of brand Stefani -- a lucrative merchandising machine -- but to give the girl her due, Stefani does have some previous experience: with a mother and grandmother who loved to sew, she grew up making her own clothes and scouring thrift stores in the unremarkable southern California town of Anaheim, gradually developing a sense of style that -- in a world of glossy Hollywood clothing -- is unique. As her stylist, Andrea Lieberman, puts it, "She touches on the glamorous, the tomboy, the rockabilly girl and the disco queen. Without a shadow of a doubt, she is the most innovative woman in music." Believe it or not, though, Stefani says her entry into the world of fashion was a nerve-racking time. "I was so naive growing up," she says. "I knew about buying fabric from the store and making clothes, but I didn't know about real fashion. I didn't go to a fashion show until I was 30 -- and that was Vivienne Westwood in New York. I met her, and it was so scary -- it was like meeting the Queen. She's got such an edge. I was shaking when I met her."
Gwen's style icons
But the respect is mutual. "I love that she loves clothes and getting dressed up," says Westwood. "You have a much more interesting life if you wear impressive clothes." Around that time, Stefani also attended a John Galliano couture show for Dior and admits to being reduced to awestruck tears. "That show was so mind-blowing -- that someone could have those ideas. It was like a living, walking art show." She composed herself enough to meet and become friends with Galliano, and he designed her wedding dress in 2004, which she wore to ceremonies in L.A. and London. "John seems shy at first, and you don't believe that he has all that in him. But then, when he starts to talk about what he loves, it's just passion."
Stefani sees L.A.M.B. as a long-term career, not a short-term cash-in. "It's something I want to do for the rest of my life," she says. "I've always done it, but I'm doing it on a larger scale now. And I don't care if anyone criticizes it -- it's not going to make me give up if someone says 'Oh, you're a celebrity.' I know I'm right at the beginning and I have a long way to go. But I've gotten far really fast compared to the music. Every collection gets better."
Building on the L.A.M.B. brand, Stefani has landed a deal with Coty Inc. to release a line of fragrances this fall. "Creating a fragrance is one of the most prestigious things a designer can do," she said after the announcement. "For me, it's like another thing you can wear and another thing I can creatively be a part of."
Movies and acting
Aside from fashion and fragrances, Stefani has also dabbled in the film world. She auditioned for Mr. & Mrs. Smith -- "They were clearly looking for a certain girl, and you couldn't get more opposite than me and Angelina!" -- and eventually made her movie debut in The Aviator, playing the 1930s screen siren Jean Harlow to Leonardo DiCaprio's Howard Hughes. It was a three-second cameo, but it became an Oscar-winning Martin Scorsese movie. Have the offers been flooding in ever since? "Not at all!" she says, laughing. "Of course, if Scorsese called me up, I'd be there in a second, but it's not something I'm thinking about all the time. Right now, I'm enjoying the music, the fashion and the baby." Life, she concludes, couldn't be sweeter. "I still read a menu and think 'Look at the price -- I can get that.' It's insane what's going on in my life -- I just can't believe my luck."
Image courtesy of Lester Cohen/WireImage.com
InBloom Contest!
This season is all about glowing skin and luminous eyes. ELLE Canada Online wants to help you copy these trends with our first ever Spring Makeover Contest! Submit your photo to makeover@ellecanada.com and explain why you think you are most deserving of a makeover. Five lucky winners will win a beauty basket full of Cover Girl, Pantene and Olay products, courtesy of LookFab, and more.
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