The Grammy-winning artist is showing young people a path to being themselves.
Mila Docheva faced down the camera, her contours camouflaged by an outsize hoodie raucously inscribed with neon graffiti. Her turnout, which she posted on Instagram, was a homage to her idol, the pop star Billie Eilish.
“When I dress like Billie, I feel just a little bit closer to her,” Mila, 14, said through a translator, in an email (she lives in Silistra, a town in northeastern Bulgaria). “I’m not a girlie girl. I am curvy, and I ride a skateboard. Feeling comfortable in my skin is important to me. Billie’s style gives me the courage to do that.”
Swarms of girls and young women ranging in age from under 10 to their early 20s are echoing those sentiments. They are smitten with Ms. Eilish, who took home an armful of Grammys this week, remodeling themselves in her image, posting gaudy makeovers on Instagram and other social platforms, from places as far-flung as Tbilisi and Nashville.