Five or so years ago, it seemed as if every teenager--and anyone related to one was overloading on the too-sweet pop confections of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson. Then all of a sudden from the north (Napanee, Ontario, to be exact), in swooped Avril Lavigne, a venom-spitting wisp of a girl in ties, suspenders and dirty sneakers, ready to spread the word according to punk--albeit a PG-13 kind of punk. At the time, the 17-year-old's antiestablishment shtick--raccoon eyeliner, chipped nail polish and self-penned aggressive teen anthems like "Sk8er Boi" to go with them--offered a refreshing antidote to the premature sexiness of the prefabricated rest who claimed vestal-like virtues.

Now 22, Lavigne still stands out from the rest. A married lady with her third album, The Best Damn Thing, due in April, numerous Grammy nominations for the first two, an acting turn in Richard Linklater's Fast Food Nation and another movie in the works, Lavigne is also flexing some fledgling high-style muscles. She still wears almost all black, but now it's more along the lines of a party dress in polkadots or one sweetly tied with a grosgrain ribbon. She's mixing her signature Dickies and tank tops with a little Dolce & Gabbana, and even tapped Hollywood stylist Jessica Paster to help out for the upcoming press rounds and album tour. In July Lavigne made her first front-row appearance--during the Chanel couture show, no less.

"I didn't know what I would think," she says of the experience. "Everyone in the crowd just adored fashion, and then all these freaking skinny-ass models come out in this funky Chanel stuff." Previously, Lavigne believed that Chanel was meant for ladies of...