Once upon a time, a senior in high school could keep her plate plenty full balancing homework, SAT prep, college applications, and extracurriculars like, say, tennis or theater--not to mention a social life. Once upon a time, that is, before online pursuits like blogging turned everyday teenagers into virtual celebrities.In light of the meteoric rise of her personal-style blog, sea of shoes, Jane Aldridge is completing her senior year via online classes. How else would the Trophy Club, Texas-native keep pace with a frenetic schedule that includes meetings in Philadelphia with Urban Outfitters execs for her self-designed shoe collection, near-daily photo sessions with her mother to sate the appetite of her style-hungry fans (outfit changes occur a minimum of four times a day), and whirlwind trips to Paris at the invitation of Chanel? When Mr. Lagerfeld calls, you answer!
It's hard to stay grounded when your site counts Kanye West and designer Tory Burch among its tens of thousands of fans. Which is why I wasn't too surprised when an e-mail landed in my in-box, informing me that Jane and her mother, Judy, were guest-designing a coat for indie-cool trench label Gryphon. Shoes may be Jane's first love, but a girl can't survive on high heels alone! Gryphon's Aimee Cho explained that, as a fan of both Jane's and Judy's blogs, she had struck up an e-mail correspondence with them, and from there asked them to collaborate with her. In fact, the entire transaction took place over e-mail--sketches, production notes. To this day, Cho has never met or even spoken by telephone with Jane or Judy. The future of business as we know it?
But back to the trench. It has dramatic kimono sleeves and a leather, nomad-inspired pouch. "It's edgier than anything I've done," says Cho. Jane and Judy fleshed it out while living in Japan last summer, and their references extend far and wide, from Mad Max to Amelia Earhart.
Thinking ahead to her future, Jane says she hopes to cross the country sometime in the next year to attend FIT in New York. But college must wait for now. First Jane has another trick up her sleeve--one that harks back to the print-media days of yore. Yes, the Internet darling and her mom have signed a book deal. After all, even in this new era, style does not exist solely in cyberspace.
