Fashion

12-Yr-Old Designer Takes Over Nordstrom

by Erin Mayer

The last thing we need is another tween superstar putting us to shame à la Tavi Gevinson, and yet here she is. Isabella Rose Taylor is a 12-year-old fashion designer who has been selling her label online for the past three years. Now her namesake brand is coming to a store near you, thanks to a collaboration with Nordstrom.

Taylor, an Austin native, will design a 15-piece line to be sold in the department store, priced between $20-$100. Nordstrom's corporate merchandising manager for kids, Jennifer Jackson, reports that the line should be available by late summer, in time for the back-to-school season. Jackson spoke highly of the designer, describing Taylor as someone with “the unique ability to create fun, stylish clothes that really represent her customer, who are also her peers.”

The young designer owes some of her success to her parents, who have invested in her company, but it's clear that she is talented in her own right. Taylor got her start selling paintings to galleries in Texas before transitioning to clothing design. Now her label is gaining some serious speed, and the Nordstrom project is bound to bring her a slew of new fans. Oh, and did we forget to mention that she's in college?! At age 12!

"Most people think I’m older," she told WWD. "I don’t really tell them I’m not unless they ask, and then they are really surprised." We'd be surprised, too, if we met a 12-year-old who was already a college student, professional artist, and successful fashion designer. I mean, I'm graduated and I'm proud when I manage to put on pants while working from home.

Isabella Rose Taylor is clearly one of the coolest 12-year-olds around, and her fashion label reflects that with its boho-grunge sensibilities. We expect that the Nordstrom collection will be just as cool. If I dressed like this when I was in middle school, I suspect things may have gone differently for me:

Check out Isabella Rose Taylor's spring lookbook. Her clothes might be the only thing to ever make you long for your preteen years.

Image: isabellarosetaylor/Instagram