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Sixteen-year-old Los Angeles singer took top prize at Womad, wears Givenchy, once worked as production assistant on Project Runway
Billie Eilish gives same Vanity Fair interview fifth year in a row
Billie Eilish is known for her screaming sessions on the internet – often faster than a highway to nowhere – and for her love of partying. A winner of three Womad music festivals, she’s also a talented singer, songwriter and dancer. She’s got a lot to talk about.
She met Kanye West in September. “He’s like … God,” she tells the latest issue of Vanity Fair. “He’s like [in a deep voice], ‘I’m just ready to change the world!’ I was like, ‘This is for the internet, dude.’”
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And don’t ask who she watches on YouTube. “Seriously, sometimes I start watching one artist and I find that I really want to watch all of them, and I’m like, ‘I’m really just going to do one of these videos and be really short.’” But she might have to buy more gear to explain it to her fans. “I’m, like, super inspired by Nicki Minaj,” she says. “When I go onstage I just walk off my feet. It’s so crazy.”
Eilish was recently filmed for an advert for Givenchy, working for free. She managed to get the credit through creative director Riccardo Tisci. “I am so beyond grateful and honored,” she tweeted at the time. “He has been an inspiration to me on and off my stage and it is SO precious to me to have worked directly with him.”
In the interview, she talks about how she initially got a taste for celebrity, on the shows Project Runway and All-Stars, then as a volunteer to produce the guest judges with Megan Mullally at the Chicago series. She helped make dresses for the judges in her studio, and she also took part in the fashion shows.
“I’m not like this with no pretense,” she says. “That’s how people forget, ‘Oh, she’s 16.’”
She says there have been “fiery” moments, such as when she cut school because she was irritated. “Why was I fucking so stressed out? That’s a fucking waste of my time. I mean, being a nervous, obnoxious loser is not a valid reason.”
Over the years she has become more aware of the repercussions of a young celebrity life. “I feel like I’m a lot more [aware] than I used to be,” she says. “At 16, people are like, ‘I’m going to connect with you.’”
She’s already more experienced at the other end of the spectrum. “I feel like I’m just, like, fucking older,” she says. “Just a proper woman now.”