NEW YORK – Hayley Kiyoko and Naomi Scott are the next generation of Disney Channel starlets, and these BFFs are getting a crash course in signing autographs, security guards and singing on live TV.
Makeup artists color their lips while others are doing their hair, and stylists have rolled racks into a Manhattan hotel from which they can choose their wardrobe.
They've hit the media circuit this week and have a premiere to attend before Friday's debut of the TV movie "Lemonade Mouth," about kids forming a band. But if this whole experience has been "just weird, just crazy" - Scott's words - dressing the part hasn't been.
Kiyoko, 20, seems poised to become a fashion force, gravitating toward funky styles, wearing a leather cowboy shirt and shorts with tights. She even pulls off the leather fanny pack that she feels fairly passionate about. ("I love the fanny pack because I hate bringing those Mary Poppins big bags everywhere," she says. "I can wear this and keep my stuff safe and I can always reach my phone and lip gloss.")
Her taste is "left of center," and while she enjoys very much the self-expression that comes with fashion, the shopping part is mediocre, she says. The maximum time limit at the mall for this Los Angeles-area native is 90 minutes.
Scott would rather be shopping for candy and other sweets, although she likes the occasional spin through a Zara or an AllSaints shop. "Fashion" isn't really her thing, she says, although she's quickly realizing that paying attention to her clothes, and her beauty and grooming routines are all part of her job.
Looking good exudes a confidence that she hopes her new tween fans will learn, she says, but she wants the emphasis to be on a good, healthy outlook, not on perfection.
Scott has the unfussy, effortless look that so many strive for. As a Londoner, the 17-year-old says she has well-developed preferences for darker colors and subtle shapes, but she doesn't mind something quirky, either. On this day, she's wearing a gray-print, tank-strap tunic top and chunky flat boots - and an oversized pink alligator pendant.
She doesn't know the designer of the red-and-champagne-colored dress she has picked for the premiere. One of her most prized fashion possessions are an old pair of lace-up, Victorian-style boots that her aunt gave her.
Even though Kiyoko is more daring in her style choices, Scott says she likes that her friend always roots things in purpose rather than trend.
Back to the fanny pack: "What makes it cooler about Hayley wearing it is that she's choosing it because it's practical. She doesn't want to look like she's trying," Scott says.
Kiyoko is happy, however, to wear the label of "unexpected."
"People don't know me yet, so it's harder to do 'unexpected,' but that's what I want. I want to be a little edgy," Kiyoko says.
She recalls spending her first paycheck - for an OnStar TV commercial when she was in the seventh grade - on all-over gold sneakers by Gwen Stefani's LAMB brand. She fancies that as she grows her career, she'd like to do it all like Stefani: music, modeling and her own fashion brand.
"If there's one person I think she's going to be like, it's Gwen Stefani," cheers Scott. "She's got the whole package."
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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