Elle Girl UK (April 2005)
She wears the crown
Few mix it up like style queen Gwen Stefani. But unlike most pretenders to her throne, she’s not too precious to share her secrets. Respect.
We get a shock when Gwen Stefani walks into the room. That’s to be expected, of course, from a peroxide bombshell rock goddess. But today, as she saunters in from the 11 o’clock sunshine to the industrial cool of an LA photo studio, we’re taken aback because she’s so, well, under-stated.
Dressed almost head to toe in her own label L.A.M.B (Mukluk-style boots being the only concession), a beanie covers her trademark hair, over-sized shades shield her face and, despite the bomber jacket, she looks daintier than her larger-than-life stage presence – kinda doll like, which is really rather appropriate for a girl with such a penchant for dressing up.
‘This is my everyday outfit,’ she says. ‘These jackets are wicked, the lining’s camouflage with little lambs – I call it Lambi Cami.’ Gwen’s got a way with words – just read the lyrics, or cute sleeve notes, on her debut solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby (L.A.M.B, geddit?). And as she laughs and chatters her way through our interview so enthusiastically that it’s a struggle to actually get a word in, it’s clear that not only has she got plenty to crow about, but that she’s toe-wigglingly happy with life right now.
First single What You Waiting For?, produced by studio svengali Nelle Hooper of Madonna and Björk fame, went to top 10 and follow-up Rich Girl, featuring Eve and produced by Dr. Dre, is destroying the charts right now. Elsewhere on the album, Gwen has collaborated with with other big-hitters such as The Neptunes and Andre 3000 from OutKast. She’s just won a Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist and is still very much at the forefront of No Doubt, with whom she’s sold 25 million records and won three Grammys.
Then there’s L.A.M.B, the clothing label she started two years ago with friend Andrea Lieberman. Right now Gwen’s working on an accessories line. ‘It’s Japanese-inspired, kind of Hello Kitty but older,’ she says. ‘It’s so cute. I even designed this digital camera with its own bag, stationary and all this Harajuku stuff.’
Last year she landed her first film role, in Matin Scorsese’s The Aviator, alongside Leo DiCaprio, after missing out on Chicago, Fight Club and Girl, Interrupted. It’s a back-row-snog-and-you’ll-miss-it part, but the first step on the last leg of Gwen’s bid for world domination, plus she got to play her heroine, Jean Harlow. ‘She was dope-ass, with skinny eyebrows and attitude – way ahead of her time.’
Meanwhile, Gwen splits her downtime between two continents, with homes in Los Angeles and Primrose Hill, London, where she lives with husband Gavin Rossdale from Bush, with whom she’s currently planning to have a family. So all in all, it’s something of a miracle she still finds time to be a fashion icon and inspiration to ELLEgirls everywhere.
So Gwen, first of all, can we just say that we’re loving your style?
Well, I love ELLEgirl too – I am an ELLEgirl. But I find it so surreal that people look up to me, because I’m just me, you know.
It’s because you’re so original. Where do you get your inspiration from?
I don’t really feel I’m original, I’m just a big collaboration of stolen goods. I’m inspired by everything around me, like I could look at somebody in the street and go, ‘OK, I’m doing that.’ I’m the biggest thief ever, it’s a big recycling thing. Over the years I’ve been inspired by tons of things – punk rock, Hollywood glamour girls, the ska scene, and I just put it into a big salad and mix it up. I was going to call my album Stolen Goods, or This Was Yours, Now It’s Mine.
But the way you mix stuff together it always works…
Thank you, that’s nice.
How do you get it right every time?
I don’t think I do! I guess I just have a passion for fashion… I love it. But it’s such a weird thing to talk about – that’s why I never did it in the past, I’d always be so embarrassed. Fashion’s just what you wear in the morning, you know.
When did you become conscious of it?
I hit puberty and found music, and all of a sudden I wanted to be unique. In high school I did a lot of sewing and thrift-store shopping. My mum sewed a lot of clothes for me when I was growing up, so I spent loads of time at the fabric store. Every dance that came up, we would buy fabric and make my dress. For prom, I remade Grace Kelly’s dress from the movie Rear Window. My parents were strict, though. If I was walking to college, they’d drive by and say, ‘You’re not going to school like that!’ Now I don’t wear anything that anyone tells me to wear.
Which designers inspire you?
Vivienne Westwood drives me crazy. She is the ultimate because she started the whole punk thing – so many people have copied her that she’s the book that you go to. She takes classical tradition and twists it modern. Every time I come to London I give her most of my pay check.
Do you have a stylist?
I’ve always done my own until I met Andrea Lieberman on the Let Me Blow Ya Mind video in 2001. We’ve been working together ever since and now she’s one of my best friends. She knows the fashion world a lot better than me – I’m just a girl from Orange County who goes thrift-store shopping.
We’ve got to ask – is Orange County anything like the O.C.?
Not the one I grew up in! My family lived across the street from Disneyland surrounded by a bunch of seedy motels.
How would you describe your album?
Well it was supposed to be a silly dance record, kinda like the songs I used to listen to in high school. I wanted to make a modern version of early 80s stuff like Club Nouveau, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, Prince, early Madonna… But when you’re writing you never know what you’re going to get, depending on your moods and what you’re going through at the time.
Like, the Harajuku Girls, for example?
I’m really inspired by the whole Tokyo scene. The first time I went, it was as if I’d landed on another planet – I was, like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ Harajuku Girls are all about being an individual and expressing yourself through style and that’s something I’ve always done. And then I started thinking, ‘I’m giving myself some Harajuku Girls and I’m going to roll with them everywhere I go.’ It was like a fantasy, almost like my muse.
You collaborated with a lot of people – what did you enjoy most?
The last session with Pharrell (Williams) was really fun because I already had the album done and was feeling confident. We got there at four in the afternoon and finished the song by 11. We were, ‘Wow, this is so fun.’ There was a magical thing going through us at that point.
We’re very jealous of you spending time with Pharrell in a small room…
I’m jealous of myself, I’m like – wow!
Did you learn anything about yourself from working with all these people?
That I have a massive ego. Songwriting defines me and makes me feel like I am something in this world, so to open myself up to other people was totally threatening. It was so nerve-wrecking, sitting in a room with Andre 3000, going, ‘Shit, I hope I can think of something – anything!’ But doing that fueled some fire in me.
How do you find time to do everything?
I have this big list of things I want to do and a clock ticking really hard in my head. I knew that if I didn’t do the album then, I’d never do the movie, the No Doubt record would never come out… It’s where the idea for the first single came from, like, ‘What You Waiting For, Gwen? Don’t complain about it – just go do it.’
Gwen on the couch
If you could be an accessory, what would you be?
Maybe I’d be a bra. Something sexy…
What excites you?
Following through with my ideas.
What would you do if you could be invisible?
I feel that I’ve been a fly on the wall for years, being in a band with all boys, so I’d much prefer to be visible: ‘Hello? Pay attention to me!’
How do you cheer yourself up if you’re having a bad day?
Eat pizza or Pringles, or just go to sleep… move on to the next day. That’s not very inspirational, is it? Now all you ELLEgirls will be, ‘We’ve got an excuse to go to bed.’
When are you happiest?
When I’m in bed, watching TV with my husband – eating pizza!
Do you have a recurring dream?
My dog Megan just died but she keeps coming back in my dreams so I suppose that’s God’s way of letting me still hang out with her.
Favourite smell?
Right now it’s a candle called Violet.
Do you have a massive wardrobe?
It’s obscene as I get all the L.A.M.B samples. Every so often I invite all of my friends over to pillage.
What do you always have on you?
My wedding ring, that’s going to be on me for life, and a toothbrush as I never know how long I’m going to be away. Then just my Blackberry, some sunglasses and lipstick.
Best invention?
I love the internet. To connect with the outside world without having to go out is really unbelievable.
Do you have a nickname?
Gwennie? But usually it’s just Gwen or Lamb, as I call everybody Lamb.
How do you spend your free time?
I’m usually really depressed, going, ‘I don’t know what to do with myself.’ I fantasise about going on vacation with my husband, that’d be weird. We’ve never done that before…
Name one thing you’d like to change about the world?
That there was no racism. It seems such an easy thing to get rid of.
What do you wish you could do that you can’t?
Choreography – I wish I could dance like Beyoncé or Michael Jackson.
Favourite journey?
This whole life’s been a long journey, but a good one. I don’t want it to end.