Gwen Stefani’s own brand of sexy-cool has made her a style icon. With her first solo album and a line of clothes she’s designing herself, Stefani races into the future. Here, the songstress talks about staying true to herself through the firestorm of fame, her hope for a baby, and the real reason she wears those big, baggy jeans. By Susan Swimmer.

After years of fronting the Grammy-award-winning band No Doubt, Gwen Stefani decided it was time to branch out. She’s “on fire right now,” and who can argue? Her first solo album, a hip-hop inspired dance fest called Love. Angel. Music. Baby, was released in November 2004 and has already gone platinum; she’s just completed a European tour; the clothing line she designs, called L.A.M.B for short, is wildly successful; and a line of accessories and T-shirts called Harajuku Lovers – directly tied to her album – is set to launch this fall. It’s no wonder Stefani’s quirky sense of cool is now the backbone of her very own fashion empire – her sexy-sweet, gender-bending looks have inspired everyone from mall rats to rap moguls, changing the way the world thinks about style. For Stefani, life doesn’t imitate art, her life is her art.

Girly Grunge

By her own admission, Stefani’s look is an ever-changing obsession that started long before she made it to the top of the charts. “Growing up in Anaheim, CA, I always made my own clothes,” she says. “In the beginning I’d go to thrift stores, or places like The Wet Seal and Contempo Casuals, and try to find something weird. Then I’d take it home and remake it. I had a sewing machine in my room; it was the danger zone. It was, like, pins and needles everywhere.”

Stefani’s brand of girlish grunge developed a small, cult-like following among the Gen X-ers who loved Ska music. “My girlfriend and I went to every single Scars and JC Penney’s and bought out every single child’s extra-large T-shirt and tank top. We printed pink No Doubt logos on them and sold them at our concerts.” Stefani paired her T-shirt with super-baggy pants culled from the boys’ section of thrift stores, “because I never really liked my legs or butt,” and her fans went wild. By the time the band started to make it nationally, there were legions of Gwen-itators.

Searching for… Something

Looking at Stefani now, in the studio for Marie Claire’s cover shoot, it’s hard to believe it all started with something so homespun. She is surrounded by racks and racks of brightly patterned couture clothing, and her trademark platinum hair cascades in curls halfway down her back. Stefani wears big, baggy jeans, torn and faded to perfection, and neon-green bra straps peek out from underneath a ribbed white tank. As our talk turns to her career, Stefani’s near-encyclopedic memory of every look worn, every lyric sung, and every concert played, is scary.

I flash Stefani a photograph of herself with fuchsia hair, circa 2000, and her face falls. “My boyfriend and I had just broken up,” she says of the time she and now-husband Gavin Rossdale almost called it quits. “You can tell by my style that I was searching so hard. I was 29, and I was like, Fuck it, I’m going to dye my hair pink. And I had braces, the one thin I bought when I got rich.”

Stefani admits the drastic look wasn’t just about a breakup. After two wildly successful albums, expectations were high for No Doubt to hit again. “It was a really hard time for me,” she says now. “I thought, I gotta be someone, I gotta live up to who I want to be.” It was during this time that Stefani wrote some of her best lyrics. “I really define myself as a songwriter. It’s pure torture, but it’s magic when it happens. When I realized I could write songs, that’s when I discovered myself. Before that, I didn’t feel I was good at anything. I’m a very different girl now than I used to be.”

The Bindi Boom

Stefani says the girl she used to be had no direction. “I had a hard time learning in school. I didn’t know what I was going to do,” she says. She was taking art classes at a local community college, toying with the idea of working as a makeup artist, when the band got offered a European tour. Performing gave Stefani an outlet for the visual experimentation she loved – whatever inspired her got worked into her wardrobe – and she had an innate knack for clashing styles. “I went out with [No Doubt bassist] Tony Kanal for eight years. He’s Indian, and I grew up watching his mom. She’d get all made up, with her sari and her jewels on, and I thought she was so glamorous. I bought those stick-on earrings and started wearing them on my forehead as bindis.” When Stefani wore one in the “Just a Girl” video paired with sporty workout wear, it typified her fashion-blender sensibilities.

Girl Power

No Doubt’s popularity grew exponentially with each successive release, and Stefani rode the wave of huge sales and glowing reviews. When they released Rock Steady, their fifth album, Stefani says it was one of the best times in her life. “Our egos were gone,” she says of her bandmates. “We were just so in love with each other and so proud of the album. It was like, ‘This is crazy, how’d we get so far?’ ”

Stefani felt strong and confident, and the look she honed for the tour was a sort of edgy, sexy, urban chic. “I was inspired by a trip to Jamaica,” Stefani says of the mesh top she wore under a barely there bikini top in 2001. “I wore grafitti pants that looked like a mock-up of the album cover artwork, and I had just done this Pussycat Dolls [burlesque] show with these big ponytails, and I was like, I wanna do ponytails.” Stefani’s body, which she admits takes a lot of work to maintain, was ab-fab. “Having to work out sucks, but once you get me on the treadmill I’m happy,” she says. “I fight getting there, like everybody. It’s always been something I have to work and earn.”

Dream Dress

In 2002, Stefani married long-time love Rossdale ina traditional ceremony in London. “That was one of my best looks ever,” Stefani gushes. “I felt very beautiful. John Galliano did my gown. I talked to him on the phone and showed him pictures of things I liked. He sent drawings over, and the bottom of the dress was all pink. I was like, Is that a shadow, or is that really what he’s going to do? I never told him to make it pink.”

Stefani’s workload has been nonstop ever since the nuptials, and she credits her husband for “balancing me and reeling me in.” With a schedule like hers, it can’t be easy. “A great day for me is not getting out of bed,” she allows. “I like to see how many snack I can eat there, how many crumbs I can drop, and how many really bad TV shows I can watch. I also like the Discovery Channel, and shows about makeovers or babies being born.”

Clearly, motherhood is on her mind, and at 35, Stefani wrestles with the possibility of soon or never. “I’ve always wanted to be a mother,” she says. “I was hanging out with my nephew the other day, and he’s like a frickin’ Twinkie he’s so delicious. But it’s kind of not up to me. I’ve been on this journey, and I don’t want to be too greedy about what’s going to come next. I’ll be really happy when it happens.”

You Know You’ve Arrived When…

In 2003 No Doubt was tapped to perform at the Super Bowl, an honor she calls one of the best moments in her life. What’s more, Stefani shared the stage with Sting, whom she had long adored. “I actually met him for the first time when I was 16,” she says. “My dad worked for Yamaha motorcycles, and he got me backstage after one of the Police’s concerts. I was really fat and puberty-stricken, and my dad was like, ‘ Ask him for an autograph.’ So I did, and he was really mean. But I still loved him.” Stefani laughs at the memory. “When I met Sting years later, I told him that story, and he was like, ‘Oh man, I was such a dick back then,’ ” she says. “But he’s such a great guy.”

Stefani’s skyrocketing status opened unlikely doors, including Hollywood’s Golden Globe ceremony in 2004. “I felt very much out of my element there.I wore a very simple vintage Valentino gown, with my hair up in a French twist. The whole thing was inspired by Hitchcock’s Rear Window. I felt so sophisticated. The press kind of worked me over for that look, but then a year later they said they like it. Whatever.”

Stefani has learned to live with the bad reviews. It’s not like it ever discourages me from doing something I want to do,” she says. “I really don’t care what people say. If I followed what people said I should do, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

East Meets West

Stefani’s most recent style incarnation – sporty Lolita meets French maid – is actually her own take on a trend she saw in Tokyo’s Harajuku neighborhood. “I was really inspired by the kids there,” she says. “They were all about self-expression through fashion, and this whole ping-pong match between Eastern and Western and how we steal each other’s ideas.”

Stefani says the idea of adding four Japanese backup dancers to her show came to her in a dream. Studying a 2005 red-carpet picture of herself with the girls, Stefani is loving the poufy crinoline skirts paired with neon knee pads that pop off the page. I pull out one last photo. It’s a picture of a brunette Stefani wearing almost the exact same crinoline skirt, circa 1989. “Do you see that?” she squeals. “It’s like the same look for 20 years. That’s so crazy! I feel like I’ve come full circle.” And with that, Stefani disappears through the racks of clothes.

No Doubt is on hiatus, but Gwen’s still busy. Her clothing line is gearing to launch this fall and she’s getting ready to work with DiCaprio and Scorsese. Is it still a Simple Kind of Life? by Kev Lewin

As a musician, Stefani has welcomed the evolution of the band’s sound while holding true to her roots. She’s a chameleon in the best possible sense. Her openness to collaborate has also been a part of her continued success. The L.A.M.B line of apparel is all part of the agenda.

There’s no doubt marriage has changed Gwen Stefani. Since saying ‘I do’ to Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale three times last September, she has put her music career on hold to concentrate on creating and marketing her unique fashion designs.

Fans of No Doubt may be in mourning as the Californian plans for life away from the group, but the fashion conscious should start celebrating as the style queen attempts to be the new Stella McCartney.

Stefani has a range of ideas she’s hoping to turn into must-haves-from handbags to wallets. Not bad for a girl whose strict Catholic parents made sure their daughter didn’t step out in anything even remotely risqué or eye-catching.

“My parents were very strict,” she said. “I had to wear white underwear until I finished high school.”

Nowadays, Stefani, 33, is all about color and setting fashion trends that thrill. After friends told her to make more of her crazy clothes and accessories, she started the L.A.M.B clothing line of sportwear with designer friend Andrea Lieberman.

“I’m so excited to be able to give my friends a pair of pants from my line and say, ‘They’re mine. I made them,’” she said. “I’ve designed tons of things for myself, but to do something for other people – that’s cool. I never thought I’d have an impact on anyone.”

The L.A.M.B name, which will be featured in bold old-English letters on her designs, is a tribute to her beloved late Lhasa Apso. The name is also inspired by her favorite words: lamb, love, angel, music and baby.

She admits working with Lieberman has really helped turn her crazy outlandish ideas into solid designs. Her line will hit stores early next year.

“She has totally streamlined me,” she said. “To me, there’s not such thing as too much.” John Galliano, who designed the wedding gown Gwen wore to ceremonies in London and Los Angeles, is convinced the starlet and her L.A.M.B partner are sure to become a leading light in fashion circles in the coming years.

“Gwen’s an old-fashioned romantic at heart with a love of breaking with convention,” Galliano said. “That’s good for fashion.”

As if to give the world a taste of things to come, Stefani has collaborated with LeSportsac to create a limited edition of handbags, purses, pouches, wallets and CD cases, which will be available online and at department stores from mid-August.

The accessories, with their eye-catching colors and Stefani’s favorite words “tattooed” on them, are sure to be the thing to be caught carrying this autumn. Stefani has even given her new bags a little rock star chic including some with woven guitar strap handles. She admits her daredevil style comes from a range of influences: her grandmother, ska music fashions, the Far East and vintage Hollywood glamour to name just a few.

Mix them all together and you start to see Stefani’s eclectic creations coming together. Her new clothing line does pose one big problem for the pop star – if it really takes off, will she ever be able to get back to the simple kind of life she once sang about?

Life away from the band has been pretty simple so far. She spends her days contemplating musical collaborations with the likes of Eurythmics musician Dave Stewart and Dr. Dre and enjoying married life. She’s even being considered for film roles after losing the chance to appear in “Chicago” to Mya.

Stefani has been linked to several projects, including Leonardo DiCaprio’s new Howard Hughes movie The Aviator. Director Martin Scorsese and co-starring Cate Blanchett and Kate Beckinsale, it’s a chance to impress in her very first film, where she’ll play silver screen diva Jean Harlow.

She insists she’s up for the challenge. “I’ve auditioned for lots of things, but always when the band was about to make a record or go out on tour,” she said. “I think that to do something like acting, which is so difficult, really well, I have to put all my passion into it. I’m ready to focus on it now.”

Stefani’s biological clock seems to be ticking pretty loud these days too – one of the main reason why a break from No Doubt was important to her was her keenness to become a mother.

“We’re taking a little break,” she said. “We’ve never taken a break before even and this is our 16th anniversary and this is a perfect time for the group. We’re starting families now for the first time and we’re enjoying taking a break. For me, I want to be a grandma. I love my 30s so far. I just want to live life right now.”

That’s not to say Stefani and Rossdale are already making plans for a child, but surely the announcement isn’t far away. “Maybe next year, we’ll have some babies,” she said.

Her bandmates couldn’t be happier for their singer. “She wanted to be a mom when we first met. She’ll make a great mom. I think it’s a good time for her to take stock,” said drummer Adrian Young.

Stefani also seems to be very in touch with her own sexuality – highlighted by her revealing outfits and her stint as a dancer with Hollywood burlesque troupe The Pussycat Dolls. Dolls founder Robin Antin is convinced the singer is “a child of the night,” who loves to be noticed – and she’s convinced her clothing line will help other girls achieve stunning results.

“She can stop traffic. She came to see a Pussycat Dolls show at the Viper Room in Los Angeles and she just loved it,” Antin said. “She was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is exactly what I’ve always wanted to do.’ So, we got her in the show one night and she was amazing. So sexy.”

Stefani admits it’s often hard to believe that she’s living the busy life she always dreamed of.

“It’s like a platinum blonde life,” she laughed. “Sometimes I have to remember to keep walking forward, becuase it all blows my mind.”

Transcribed by Tabitha for No Doubt Scrapbook. What a star!