Voting on our landmark list of style culture pioneers has closed – with a big mover at the top
It's fitting that, like our cover star Kendall Jenner, the person voted to number one on the Readers’ 100 is also changing the face of fashion. You might have seen her walking for the likes of Hood By Air and Eckhaus Latta this season, performing at Art Basel Miami or acting on stage as Chekov’s beautiful narcissist Arkadina, but if not, Hari Nef is the NY It-girl swinging between the worlds of fashion, art and culture with nothing but a Camel Blue in one hand and an iPhone in the other. It was the iPhone – or rather it’s social media potential – that was the key to Nef’s success in the Readers’ 100, where she ascended an astronomic 67 spots to claim the crown.
“I'm an internet kid. The Readers' 100 is interactive, so I interacted with it,” she explains frankly. “I posted it everywhere and asked people to vote for me because they wouldn't do it if I didn't ask. It's not cool or chic to ask for help, but it gets the job done!” Voters were rallied through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram – and not just by Nef. Proof of the grassroots power of the internet, the list’s apparent underdogs began to rise through the ranks in no time. Kid genius composer Henry Plotnick moved from 94 to 26, whilst Rookie founder Tavi Gevinson leapt up 32 places to make the top 10. “Scrolling down the Dazed 100 feels like flipping through a glossy indie art/fashion magazine,” Nef says. “Scrolling down the Readers' list feels like scrolling through my Tumblr dashboard.”
Model Andreja Pejic, who this year announced that she had undergone gender reassignment surgery, rose 70 places, finishing up third. That two trans women made the top three is a powerful reflection of the year 2014 has been – epitomised by Laverne Cox on the cover of Time, Nef’s definitive pop culture moment of the year. “2014 was the year of Trans 101,” she admits. “Suddenly: trans folk exist!” She’s refreshingly open about the limitations of the popular face of activism, however. “To most, trans people are post-op, conventionally attractive women with straightforward politics. I'm no exception: as far as #trans goes, I'm easily understood. I'm white, I'm from a first world country, my identity as a woman aligns within a gender binary that most people take for granted...My hope for 2015 is not just that more trans stories are told, but different kinds as well.”
Whether discussing sex in her column for ADULT, going After Dark at NYFW for Dazed or posting selfies with a green face-mask on, Nef is someone who has taken that Web 2.0 mantra, “broadcast yourself”, to heart. What she posts, people read, like, and reblog. “I don't have a fanbase watching my every move, but I do have followers.” As for her win on the Readers’ 100 – “It was all them. I'm grateful.”
See the top ten below, and check-out the full list here.
The Reader's top 10
1. Hari Nef
#68 on the Dazed 100
2. FKA twigs
#19 on the Dazed 100
3. Andreja Pejic
#73 on the Dazed 100
4. Arca
#3 on the Dazed 100
5. Kendall Jenner
#1 on the Dazed 100
6. Kacy Hill
#29 on the Dazed 100
7. Olivier Rousteing
#2 on the Dazed 100
8. Kelela
#6 on the Dazed 100
9. Winnie Harlow
#80 on the Dazed 100
10. Tavi Gevinson
#42 on the Dazed 100