No Doubt Scrapbook

Gwenopolis

Having just come off a world tour promoting her record-breaking solo career and right before she steps into the studio with her old cohorts No Doubt, singer Gwen Stefani is flying too fast and bright to slow down. It’s safe to say that Stefani has become one of the gods of today’s pop music world, with plenty of devoted followers. Welcome to Gwenopolis.

A few days before I’m supposed to meet Gwen Stefani in Los Angeles for this interview, I just happen to run into her in a Virgin Megastore. Not surprisingly, Gwen is striking-movie-star blonde, impossibly big brown eyes, impeccable style. She also happens to be standing in a clear plastic box and is approximately 12″ tall. It’s the “Hollaback Gwen” doll, a fascinating (and, in this case, adorable) barometer of fame. It’s one thing to acquire international pop-star status, your own fashion empire, a level of wealth unimaginable to most humans, and what appears to be an enviable level of domestic bliss (right after this interview took place, Stefani indeed became pregnant with a second child). It’s quite another to actually see yourself immortalized in toy form. Read the rest of this article »

Escape Artist

Platinum pop star Gwen Stefani talks about her hit addiction, yodeling fantasies, and how she kicked her Madonna habit. Now she prepares to conquer the world, with baby in tow. By Joseph Hooper.

You know the story: Blonde Italian-American pop diva, music video eminence, and all-round material girl marries a Brit artiste and moves to England. The relationship hits some bumps along the way, but a baby boy ensues and celebrity life keeps rolling. “It is weird that we have all these similarities,” Gwen Stefani allows as she nestles on a couch in one of the many rooms her entourage has taken in London’s Landmark hotel in mid-November. With a voice that hovers somewhere between sultry and Kewpie doll, the singer has a knack for sounding about seven years old: “Madonna’s had us over to dinner and stuff, and she’s always been very nice to me.” Read the rest of this article »

Now and Gwen

She’s got a wardrobe of to-die-for clothes and gets to spend all day making music with Pharrell. We tracked Gwen down and demanded to know why she’s so cool.

Hey Gwen! How are you?
“I’m good, thanks for asking!”

You’ve been so busy. We love the Wind It Up video.
“Thanks. It’s so cool looking. I remember when I was a little girl and I saw The Sound of Music. It was such an inspiration to me. My folks wouldn’t let me watch Grease when it came out… but I did see that and it changed my life. I was able to indulge my theatrical side!” Read the rest of this article »

Working Girl

She works hard for the money, and she ain’t no hollaback girl, but now that the world has embraced Gwen Stefani as the platinum bomb, will she ever find a simple kind of life?

The popular television series The OC and Laguna Beach have made Southern California’s Orange County and attitude like, totally rad. They portray the laidback lifestyle of perfectly aligned palm trees, lazy afternoons, and never-ending spring breaks. Meanwhile, the most famous OC girl of them all, Gwen Stefani, is quietly building her empire as the hardest working girl in show business. Last year, we saw her playing Jean Harlow in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator, and this year she is high off the phenomenal success of her first solo album - having already achieved worldwide domination as front woman of No Doubt - and summer anthems “Hollaback Girl” and “Cool.” She is also busy spearheading not one but two clothing lines: L.A.M.B (which shares a name with her Love. Angel. Music. Baby. album) and the newly launched Harajuku Lovers. Read the rest of this article »

Grand Slam

Gwen Stefani has a platinum album, a red-hot clothing line, and a solo tour. Never has world domination seemed so cute. By Deanna Kizis.

Gwen Stefani’s home sits atop a steep driveway in Los Angeles, like a butter cream-frosted castle complete with a turret, bougainvillea vines, bathing pools, and fountains. When I ring the bell to announce my presence, her Minnie Mouse voice drifts down from a balcony above: “Hold on! I’m not ready yet!” A moment later Stefani - pop superstar, body beautiful, famous wife of Gavin Rossdale - bounds down her wrought iron staircase, her bare feet slapping the terracotta tile. Her bottle blond hair is pinned on one side like a Vargas pinup girl. Her famous abs, just visible between her white tank top and jeans, are tan and taut. Stefani’s fully made-up - brow pencil, foundation, blush - and in her pocket are not one but two golden-hued lip glosses, which she sweeps across her lips as frequently as some hipsters light cigarettes. Read the rest of this article »

Everyone has a view on Gwen Stefani:

She’s a punk-rock pin-up, a female David Bowie, the new princess of pop, a style icon, a hip-hop superstar, a movie starlet, the red-carpet goddess, a cultural chameleon. Just don’t call her a faker…

“What I would say to those people,” spits Stefani in her helium-tipped Cali-purr, “is do your research. I was in a band with all guys since I was 16 years old. I’ve been in a fucking rock band touring the fucking world for eighteen years. So if you’re gonna try and erase that, then I’m gonna stick my finger right up in your face. ‘Cos you know what? I did it. And you try and be a girl and do that in 1987. Read the rest of this article »

Gwen and Pharell Redefine Music and Fashion

Gwen Stefani: Ska, new wave, rock, and rap. The outrageous white girl with punk roots - who, like Lil’ Kim, rocked pink hair and made it hot - has quietly influenced fashion and music of all genres and styles. Whether she’s teaming with fellow fashionista Eve or creatively sparring with Andre 3000, Gwen’s ghetto fabulous pass extends beyond musical borders. And she’s carried that fusion into her own L.A.M.B. (Love, Angel, Music, Baby) clothing line, bringing into fashion fold the Japanese Harajuku girls (named for Tokyo’s famous shopping district). And the beat goes on.

Style: Marilyn Monroe meets Cyndi Lauper

Known for: Blonde hair, Rasta influenced wristbands, bindi

Fashion words: “Think what money could bring/I’d buy everything/Clean out Vivian Westwood in my Galliano gown.” Read the rest of this article »

Bound for glory

Ska-punk siren Gwen Stefani is about to go stellar with a debut solo album and a plum role in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator. But GQ managed to tie her down… By Charlie Porter. Photographs by Marc Hom.

Gwen Stefani is sitting in a Mercedes and she’s fizzing, fast words, few pauses. “The record is ridiculous. It is RI-DI-CU-LOUS.” Ridiculous, in her native Orange County, California speak, appears to be a very good thing. We’re driving away from the photoshoot at an abandoned riverside building in deepest south London, where the basement rooms feel like dungeons and the sparse furniture includes what seems to be a miniature bondage chair, rope knotted tight across its frame. Would she sit on it for GQ? Stefani strides up and straddles it, happy to oblige. Read the rest of this article »