Fashion's Finest Look Back at Their Teenage Style [Gallery]
For many, our teenage years are a dizzying spin of hormones, emotions and new experiences, with some more hormones thrown in for good measure. Throughout, the need for self-expression feels like the most powerful thing on earth, and what better form do we have than fashion? But looking back on what we wore as teens can throw up some interesting questions, the foremost perhaps being “What the hell was I thinking?!” Here, a selection of designers and editors who now make a living from their sartorial skills look back and ask themselves that very question.
Todd Lynn’s trademark tailoring is known for being razor-sharp with an androgynous edge, which is something of a departure from his preferred style as a teen: grunge. However Lynn, who has previously worked for Roland Mouret, was inspired by Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now for his Spring/Summer ’13 collection, so perhaps a little bit of that dark and moody teenage spirit has survived.
How would you describe your style in your teen years?
It was the heyday of grunge. It was fun to find everything vintage and put it together in random ways.
How would you describe the fashion zeitgeist in the year you were 15? McQueen had just started and Margiela was already getting known. I would save every penny I had and buy Margiela knitwear and mix it with things I would make myself.
Did you know you wanted to be in fashion as a teen?
Yes, I loved the idea of being creative and fashion is something that anyone can participate with, whatever budget you have.
How did you become a designer?
I always wanted to do something creative, and fashion fit the bill. After I finished my BA, I made a decision to save my pennies to come to the UK to study at Central St. Martins and I'm still here.
What one trend or look from your teen years would you like to resurrect and what look would you wipe from history? Everything has a time for resurrection, as long as it's done with a modern looking glass.
Canadian designer Mark Fast may be known for his hand-knitted dresses, which for Spring/Summer ’13 were fringed, 
fierce and sent down the runway to the sound of Salt-n-Pepa’s "Push It," but the Central Saint Martin’s graduate hasn’t always been so into knitwear, as his teenage goth self would no doubt tell you.
How would you describe your style in your teen years?
Goth! I was in a religious high school, so it was quite an intense context for expressing myself.
Did you know you wanted to be in fashion as a teen? I started sketching since I could remember. I think the way I dressed was a signal to the world that I was looking for something else then what I saw.
How did you become a designer?
I got into Seneca College where I met the most inspiring tutor, Malcolm Pearcey, who encouraged me to go to London and study at St. Martins.
What was your biggest teen fashion faux pas?
White socks with black shoes!
What one trend or look from your teen years would you like to resurrect and what look would you wipe from history?
I would love to bring the tie dyed Hypercolor shirts back that turned color when you got hot or cold brilliant! I had a phase of wearing neon pink and neon yellow together, obviously dressed by my mother at the time. What were we thinking, mom? Ha!
Ali Fatourechi, the founder of Genetic Denim, whose kitten-soft jeans are favored by the likes of Kristen Stewart, Sienna Miller and Halle Berry, is a man of few words. No wonder, since apparently he spent his formative years brooding behind the sleeves of checked shirts and, one imagines, some fairly floppy hair.
How would you describe your style in your teen years?
Ripped jeans, flannel shirt, vintage T-shirts and boots.
How would you describe the fashion zeitgeist in the year you were 15?
Grunge.
Who were your style icons at that time?
Johnny Depp and Kate Moss.
What was your biggest teen fashion faux pas?
Wife beaters.
What one trend or look from your teen years would you like to resurrect and what look would you wipe from history?
I’d like to resurrect my old Doc Martens and wipe out Z. Cavarricci’s.
American ready-to-wear designer Erin Barr was named a Designer to Watch earlier this year by Women’s Wear Daily. Barr’s Spring/Summer ’13 collection, representing her label’s third season, was inspired by a fictional collaboration between artist Frank Stella and Marilyn Monroe, but the designer’s teenage style was far from influenced by the iconic blonde bombshell.
How would you describe your style in your teen years?
Experimental, but usually very tomboy-ish. I rarely wore dresses.
How would you describe the fashion zeitgeist in the year you were 15?
Pop-grunge! We were really starting to come out of the minimalist grunge period and into the electronic age.
Who were your style icons at that time? Kate Moss, Kim Gordon and Hope Sandoval.
How did you become a designer? When I moved to New York, I was working as a hair stylist/makeup artist, so I was always working on shoots, but I wanted more. I wanted to create a complete vision. So I went back to school, got some experience in the field and never looked back.
What one trend or look from your teen years would you like to resurrect and what look would you wipe from history?
I probably wouldn't resurrect anything, to be completely honest. I think it's important to move forward, but I would definitely like to wipe from history stirrup stretch pants. There's no reason they need to be attached to the bottom of your feet!
L.A.-based designer Jonny Cota worked previously as a circus performer — is there any better training for a career in fashion than performing a juggling act while surrounded by a pack of vicious animals, all under the thrall of one all-powerful 
ringmaster? In partnership with his brother, Jonny launched Skingraft, which specializes in ornate leather outerwear loved by Rihanna and Nicki Minaj.
How would you describe your style in your teen years?
When I was 13, I had my chin-length hair permed straight and dyed this hideous gothic burgundy color to compliment my all-black wardrobe. I was the prime example of a suburban California goth kid.
How would you describe the fashion zeitgeist in the year you were 15?
As young teens in the suburbs before the takeover of social media, the majority of the fashion zeitgeist was still coming from local malls and from hip-hop music videos.
Who were your style icons at that time?
Jenny Shimizu, Missy Elliott and Rob Zombie.
How did you become a designer?
I was a traveling circus performer for a while and learned how to sew and make costumes on the tour bus. I started to create my own designs and somehow fell into the world of fashion a year later.
What was your biggest teen fashion faux pas?
Wacky sunglasses and an oversized neon-blue foam cowboy hat.
London-based designer Zainab Vandu recently won the British fashion reality series, Styled to Rock, when the show's executive producer, Rihanna, chose a look designed by Vandu as her stage outfit for the Wireless Festival in London. During the series, Zainab also designed looks for Katy Perry, Scissor Sisters and Cheryl Cole.
How would you describe your style in your teen years? Probably bordering on the chavvy side — at the time I 
didn't have the balls to step outside the box. I think, at that age, you tend to follow the crowd because you want to look the same as everybody else.
Who were your style icons at that time? I remember all of my friends really idolized the Spice Girls and their style, but I loved the more urban artists like TLC, Aaliyah and All Saints, the big trousers with the baggy crotch and the jumper tied round the hips — cringe.
How did you become a designer? I studied art and design at college then went on to my degree in fashion design. I interned as much as I could — that's where you really learn about your craft and the industry.
What was your biggest teen fashion faux pas?
I had this pair of flared, low rider jeans that I absolutely adored at the time. On one leg it looked as though someone had spilt a cup of bleach down it and on the other were the words "Pop Star" in massive lilac lettering — shudder. I must have thought I was Britney Spears.
What one trend or look from your teen years would you like to resurrect and what look would you wipe from history?
I'd love to make a cool, modern take on a shell suit! I would love to pretend that scrunchies didn't happen, but unfortunately they did.
Melanie Rickey, the British fashion journalist and blogger behind Fashion Editor at Large, has come full circle, fashion-wise, though she has upgraded the suppliers of her high-tops and hoodies since her teen years. In a decade or so, the editor and consultant will see how much of her teen style she has passed on, since she and her partner, British fashion and retail icon Mary Portas, recently welcomed a new baby.
How would you describe your style in your teen years?
Levis and DMs until I discovered clubbing, at which point it segued into hoodies, high-tops and "Justify My Love"-era, Madonna/Gaultier inspired leather bodysuits with cone shaped boobs.
Did you know you wanted to be in fashion as a teen?
I spent all my spare cash on The Face, iD, British Vogue and saved especially for Italian Vogue, fashion was my obsession/hobby.
How did you become a fashion journalist? I got my first job at The Independent, where I worked across several departments until getting my dream posting with then fashion editor, Marion Hume. I worked there for four years and, to my mind, it gave me the ultimate MA in journalism.
What was your biggest teen fashion faux pas?
Getting a perm at 13. It half fell out overnight so I had to go to school with a half perm. I looked like a Spaniel. It was hideous.
What one trend or look from your teen years would you like to resurrect and what look would you wipe from history?
Not long after coming out at the age of 18, I experimented with very short hair and dungarees — not my best look. Resurrect? I feel like I'm dressing like a '90s teenager at the moment — I'm back in high-tops and sweatshirts, only this time around my clothes are more Isabel Marant than a fiver down the market.
