Tavi Gevinson: Rookie to teen tastemaker

Rookie magazine Editor in Chief Tavi Gevinson, far right, signs copies of “Rookie Yearbook Two” at Skylight Books in Los Angeles.  (Bethany Mollenkof / Los Angeles Times)

“It’s so amazing that she’s so young and so successful. I’m worried about getting, like, one B, and she has this whole company thing that she’s doing and that she really enjoys. That sets the bar really high!” says 16-year-old Xulani Akel of Tavi Gevinson, who signs a copy of “Rookie Yearbook Two.”  (Bethany Mollenkof / Los Angeles Times)

Tavi Gevinson says, “I’d felt like there wasn’t a publication for teenagers that was respected. Or that I, myself, or my friends could really relate to.”  (Bethany Mollenkof / Los Angeles Times)

Teen fans line up to meet Tavi Gevinson at Skylight Books. Gevinson has been called “the future of journalism” by Lady Gaga.  (Bethany Mollenkof / Los Angeles Times)

With more than 4 million page views a month, Rookie is emerging as a DIY multiplatform media empire of sorts for Girl America.  (Bethany Mollenkof / Los Angeles Times)

“One thing I’m very proud of is that Rookie has a lot of legitimacy in publishing and music journalism and fashion,” Gevinson says. “As it’s grown, the goal has become more to make people feel included, that they’re cool enough or smart enough.”  (Bethany Mollenkof / Los Angeles Times)

An instant success when it launched in late 2011, Rookie now boasts jewelry and makeup ads and hosts in-person Rookie events in cities across the country. Here, Gevinson, left, pauses to snap a photo with reader Gigi Mayer at Skylight Books.  (Bethany Mollenkof / Los Angeles Times)

Sarah Isenberg, 15, wears a tiara in support of Rookie magazine at a reading and book signing at Skylight Books in Los Angeles.  (Bethany Mollenkof / Los Angeles Times)

“There have been times when my grades have suffered or I can’t visit my boyfriend when I’d like to because I have a number of interviews that day,” the Oak Park, Ill., high school student says. “But it’s worth it.”  (Bethany Mollenkof / Los Angeles Times)