DO celebrate Yara Shahidi

Cool-girl Yara talks teen activism, academics and the game-changing power of personal style.

it’s been a few months since the 17-year-old Black-ish star completed high school, and after four years of juggling acting, studies and activism, Yara is taking a gap year during which she will shoot the spin-off series College-ish. Next up: Harvard University, where she plans to concentrate on African-american and social studies.

“I’m doing my best to help support my generation,” she says with a modest optimism that is reflected in her dress code, which is heavy on bright stripes for the red carpet and graphic T-shirts for protests. As she puts it,“i range from loving being androgynous to wanting a layer of femininity.”

And her across-the-spectrum style makes sense considering that her father, Afshin, worked as personal photographer to the revered late musician, Prince.

“No matter what Prince wore, high heels or the most fabulous fedora, it felt as though he was born with it,” she recalls.

And she seems to have learned from the pop icon, judging by the ease with which she switches from sweaters to the embroidered and mirrored Gucci number she wore to the 2017 MTV Awards.

“That kind of outfit forces you to be proud of the space you take up. At the time I thought,‘i’ve never worn anything like this, but it’s so perfectly me right now.’”