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Avril Lavigne Breaks Down the Homemade Aesthetic That Became Synonymous With Her Early 2000s Music

Avril Lavigne once revealed the secret sauce that made her tomboy-skater-punk style so iconic when she debuted in 2002.

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In March 2022, Avril Lavigne was featured on the cover of Alternative Press for the first time, despite being an icon of grunge-pop for two decades. But later in June, her debut album Let Go would celebrate 20 years, so clearly that was deliberate.

In the issue, contemporary artists sat down with artists who have influenced them, and Lavigne was interviewed by none other than rapper Rico Nasty. The pairing may seem odd at first, but Rico Nasty has a tendency to tap into a high-energy punk style on occasion. Then, she operates under the persona of Trap Lavigne.

So, really, these two discussing early 2000s DIY aesthetics and unconventional influences made total sense. Lavigne opened up about the secrets behind her iconic tomboy skater look around her debut. Was she aware, asked Rico Nasty, that her style would become so iconic in the years to come?

“Oh, my God, I had no idea,” Lavigne admitted. “Even just hearing you say that and point it out … I was oblivious to what was going on. I was literally just wearing…”

“…Whatever you wanted?” Rico Nasty finished for her. Lavigne agreed, “Yeah, and I would wear the same s**t over and over,” she said. “No one ever f**king does that now.”

Avril Lavigne On What Made Her Skater Style So Iconic: Just Wearing Her Own Clothes

Rico Nasty continued to praise Avril Lavigne for her early sartorial choices. But as much as the look might seem like a calculated move to build the Avril Lavigne brand, that wasn’t really on the radar for pop-punk in 2002. As Rico Nasty said, “It was all about the music with you. That’s fire as f**k.”

“A lot of the vintage T-shirts I was wearing [at the start of my career] were literally mine from soccer and baseball and different sports,” Lavigne added. “They were the T-shirts I had as a kid for those teams I played on. And the neckties were really my dad’s neckties. It’s really hilarious.”

Lavigne’s Let Go era was defined by her loose neckties, pin-straight hair, tank tops and t-shirts, and either baggy pants or long baggy shorts. She skateboarded backstage and in her music videos, played a low-slung guitar, and blended seamlessly with her band of rowdy dudes. Avril Lavigne was essentially the blueprint for the 2000s-era punk-rock tomboy, and adolescent girls from near and far flocked to emulate her. Her style blurred the lines of gender expression and personality before there was much of a mainstream focus on that.

Meanwhile, Lavigne’s influences make sense while also being a bit odd. On the one hand, she revealed that Alanis Morissette’s raw anger and willingness to bare every messy emotion inspired her lyrically. On the other, more surprising hand, she named Shania Twain.

“I met Shania Twain when I was 14,” she said. “I won a f**king contest at a local radio station to sing onstage with her … She gave me an opportunity to get up onstage as a young kid, and that definitely helped me in my career.”

Photo by Scott Gries/ImageDirect

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