In a winded article for AOL’s Stylelist (the formerly glorious dotcom’s attempt at hard hitting fashion “coverage”) a fairly jaded New York writer Katie Hintz-Zambrano decides to jump on the Tavi-bashing bandwagon by complaining about the 13-year old’s access to fashion designers, front row seating and overall influence in the industry.

As a blogger who’s often been targeted by larger media publications for my own personal approach to blogging, I found the article to be a double-sided bitch slap. Not only does she put into question the girls age as a factor in her overall value to fashion publishing, but she also does the unthinkable by calling her style was “warrant [of] serious eye rolls”. Oh snap!!!

In the word’s of Style Rookie Tavi, “haters gonna hate” and this article is nothing more than a biased attack by someone who is obviously pissed that even with her years of journalism school student loans, stints at Nylon, and staff position at Styleist.com there is no way in hell she’d ever get front row at fashion week.

Katie realize that fashion is a fickle little beast that is addicted to flavors of the week. The current flavor are over the top style bloggers like Tavi, Bryan Boy and Sea of Shoes, individuals with small readerships (when compared to major publishers) that manage to get attention for looking odd (or fabulous in the case of SeaGirl) and stand out in the streams of black, gray, and weathered which is the traditional garb of old school media types; you know, those overweight, fumpa bellied folks who work at lacking publications like Paper Magazine and Village Voice who for years have taken over the front rows.

These style bloggers are the new celebrities and are cheaper for publicists to book, who often have to push out big dollars for press generating front rowers. Plus, they function much like celebrities in that they gain media attention when money bleeding publications like Vogue, Elle and Harper’s write about how pissed/happy they are at their front row seats.

You put Tavi in your front row not cause she offers a valuable opinion on fashion, you put her there cause that’s the best way to piss off traditional media, which will then write about the “audacity” of a designer to give them seats in second row. In the age of venting what’s on your chest, pissed off writers = more press for fashion brands.

Fashion brands aren’t doing this cause they think Tavi is going to influence buyers in anyway, they’re doing it to piss you off and get you talking, which, big surprise, has worked. Even Anne Slowey, Fashion News Director at Elle has had to weigh in on Tavi’s value when she told New York Magazine: “People in fashion are constantly looking for the next unique boundary-pushing extreme thing to get excited about, but, you know, it’s like outsider art. What am I getting out of a 13-year-old’s opinion about fashion? How does that help me distill the collections? What am I supposed to be buying? That’s what an editor’s job at a magazine is.”

Will this happen again next season, maybe; but with time bloggers like Tavi and the others will be faced with the reality of their own lack of influence. The fact that many don’t offer editorial vision and don’t have substantial readership coupled with the lowering gleam from their novelty, means you will eventually forget about these new players in the blogging world, being left with a new batch of “influencers” to cheer and jeer. Hell, it wasn’t too long ago when Paris Hilton was on the tip of everyone’s tongue, but now she’s been reduced to making commercials for India’s Lottery System. True story.

Basically, many of these bloggers are nothing more than D-List celebrities for fashion brands and publicists looking to understand the blogging world. Their staying power is questionable and most are one-man bands hoping to acquire an endorsement deal or writing gig before the spotlight shines elsewhere (which is exactly what last seasons flavor Susie Bubble did when she took a job with Dazed & Confused). So Katie, don’t freak your shit cause Tavi’s front row. You only sound like you’re quoting lines from Mean Girls. She’ll be there as long as we’re paying attention, so take some joy in knowing that for right now you’re still relevant.

And Tavi, keep up the good work. Coming from someone who knows the harshness of being in the public spotlight; realize that if they’re talking shit about you behind your back, you’re doing something right. At 13, you’ve managed to get the attention of the fashion press. Now you just need start smoking, boozing it up and making out with randoms at after-parties to cement your celebrity status. Cause honestly girl, media loves nothing more than a bright hopeful becoming a trainwreck and eventually making her way back. Case in point, Britney Spears, Drew Barrymore and Tara Reid. Just joking. Remain innocent, it’ll make you fade away a lot faster…

Seems like Anne Slowey is no Nina Garcia.

Stylista continues to lose it’s audience with 30% fewer people (only 2.4 million) checking in this past week to see Elle’s editor stumble on her stilettos. Guess the magazines attempt at getting advertisers to care about their glossy since losing Project Runway’s Garcia isn’t turning out as well as they hoped.

Could Elle be the next mag to shutter it’s doors or scale down in the next few months? Will the winner of Stylista even have a job after all this?