Teen Vogue/2014/Interview

Interview
Photoshoot
===Interviewhttp://40.media.tumblr.com/c62d8d0af83428fa5206e4c4f5c5ea12/tumblr_mx3ojwwKc61r7z66ao5_1280.jpg===
"I was a total weirdo as a kid", declares Canadian chanteuse Grimes, aka Claire Boucher, who, as a teen, gave up eleven years of ballet training and moved on to the slightly more rebellious pastures of goth music and shaved heads. Who would've guessed that her iconoclastic ways would lead her right to the heart of the world's most exclusive industry?
Every season there's a new batch of fresh-faced girls — from the leggy blonde heiress to the quirky blogger turned street-style star — vying for the slightest flicker of the fashion establishment's affection. Grimes didn't even have to try. Over the course of the past year alone, the 25-year-old, whose ever-changing look ranges from Dickensian punk to Versailles Harajuku girl to neo-hippie, has sat front row at the Chanel couture show, rubbed elbows with the who's who crowd at the Met Gala, collaborated with Saint Laurent, and modeled for Vogue. Twice.
Although the ultraphotogenic Grimes doesn't shy away from posing in editorials or in her self-directed tour-de-force music videos, she says she actually finds deeper satisfaction behind the scenes. "I'm not naturally very cool, so doing anything in front of a camera involves a lot of fakery", she admits.
Yet the evil-genius musician has still made it to the proverbial cool-kids' table of the fashion world, keeping company with the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and Donatella Versace. "I'm amazed by their accomplishments", she says. "I would definitely like to emulate their careers".
Grimes seems to take it all in stride, spending most of her time playing hard-to-get in a small town in British Columbia. "I like to be off the grid", she confesses. So much so that she doesn't even own a cell phone. "I would never get one! I am dedicated to my real life", Grimes says. "So many of my friends check their phones constantly. Waiting for e-mails and texts is a waste of short-term memory".
After the huge success of her last album, Visions, the self-taught songstress finds that life outside the spotlight is a much-needed tonic for the pressures of her next project. "I didn't want to make a record that sounded like the last one", she says of her top-secret forthcoming effort. "I didn't want to feed into anyone's expectations or feel bound by other people's ideas of what it is".
Whether she's laying low at home or riding high performing at a Versace event, Grimes is busy taking everything in. "I'm inspired by everyone. Even people I hate tend to inspire something in me", she says, going on to cite Marina Abramović as a beloved fashion muse and credit Angel Haze with getting her to sport shorts over pants. "I used to wear pretty much entirely thrift-store stuff, but lately I'm obsessed with Céline and Shanghai Tang and this trench coat Donatella gave me — I'm wearing it into the ground!" she says. Why the sudden shift? "I'm tired of people thinking I'm a teenager, so I'm trying to look older. I'm wearing a lot of suits".
Though she may be growing up, it's the young demographic that seems to have struck the biggest cord with Grimes, above the boldfaced names and covered labels that make up her new world. "My teenage fan base is the best part of this job", she says. "I'm so stoked about how political and active this new generation is. I feel less hopeless about the future of humanity than I did a few years ago. It's completely changed my life". In other words, even with her meteoric rise, there is most definitely a spot at her table for you.Category:InterviewCategory:2013