Maddie Ziegler is no regular teenager. (If you've seen Dance Moms, or any one of Sia's music videos, this is something you already know). At just 11 years old, Ziegler was cast in the Australian singer's video for "Chandelier," launching her career as one of the most famous young dancers in the industry. Now, at 14, she has a whole lot of street cred: She went on to star in four more Sia videos (perhaps most memorably alongside Shia LaBoeuf in "Elastic Heart") and dominate many a live performance (our favourite: The Grammys with Kristen Wiig). This year, she made her foray into the acting realm when she lent her voice to the animated film Ballerina; in 2017, she's set to star alongside Naomi Watts and Sarah Silverman in The Book of Henry. So yeah, Maddie Ziegler has done a whole lot in her short life. Next stop on her path toward world domination? The fashion industry.
This autumn, Ziegler made the now-expected celebrity foray into clothing design with the launch of her own junior's line, Maddie. "I really loved the idea of being able to be so involved with it," Ziegler tells Refinery29 of the offering. "I feel like that’s the question that people want to know, like, 'Are you actually involved in it at all? Or, did you get to chose it?' And I actually had a lot of say, and that was really cool, because I wanted it to be something that I would wear, too."
That idea of wearability, especially for a teenager, is something that's definitely present in her collection: In it, you'll find flannel shirts, a bomber jacket, and Ziegler's personal favourite, the sweatshirt tunic, all of which ring in at under $89. It's meant for those girls like her, and her BFF/bonafide muse, Stranger Things' Millie Bobby Brown, who are looking for an aesthetic that's slightly more grown-up than your typical children's wear, but not too mature, as many adult pieces can be.
"I feel like there's never really an in-between," Ziegler says. "There’s really juvenile clothes or there’s something you can’t fit in because it’s too big, or something. So I wanted to make this line something that 12- or 13-year-olds can feel comfortable in, because when I was that age, I was like, 'I don’t want to wear pink all the time anymore.' But if I tried to wear adult clothes, it’s going to be either too big or too grown-up for me."
Of course, having access and connections (and a stylist) can help Ziegler combat these issues. But, she's looking to solve them for all kinds of teenagers who have experienced similar things. Plus, it's that very access that has helped inspire and shape the look and feel of the collection as a whole.
"A couple of years ago, probably about two years ago, is when I really got into fashion," she says when asked how her relationship with clothing has changed over the years. "I’ve always loved, like, seeing fashion, and then I went to my first Fashion Week, and then I went to my second one, and it made me realise how much [the designers] do to make their lines look so amazing. I was very inspired by that, and I wanted to do that with my own line. And I wanted people to still feel like they can relate to it, too. I think I’m more, recently especially, into the casual kind of thing. When I’m just going somewhere with my friends, I’m always wearing like ripped jeans and always sneakers. I never really dress up. Sometimes things I wear on a red carpet or something are a little more on the expensive side, but that’s just because it’s a fancier thing. I want to do something for girls where they can be like, 'This is what Maddie would wear, but on a normal, daily basis, and is something I can wear to school without it being super expensive.”
What's most impressive about Ziegler's latest endeavour isn't that she's taking it on at the ripe age of 14 — it's that she was taking it on while on tour with Sia. After spending her evening performing for thousands, Ziegler retreats to her own hotel room — and that's where this video comes in. To celebrate the launch of Maddie Style, and Ziegler's overall impressive résumé, we joined her in her room at the Sofitel Los Angeles to get a closer look at her clothes, her adorable puppy, and all the other goods and activities she enjoys in her very rare spare time. Here's an inside look at what a day in the life of Maddie Ziegler is really like.
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