Model's Age - How Young Is Too Young?

[enVogue]

Thanks for posting
Sydney seems to do a step into the right direction. I hope more will follow soon.

 

[model_mom]

Too young to model

Article from: Sunday Herald Sun
Robyn Riley
November 23, 2008 12:00am

ON the same day that Youth Minister Kate Ellis announces a voluntary code of conduct to help regulate the fashion business, Tori Trigg is a competition winner in Melbourne.
The brunette is leggy and gorgeous and her prize, apparently, will see her head off overseas with high hopes of international modelling success.
The thing is, Tori is 14. Far too young to be a model. She is a child and not nearly ready to be exposed to such an adult world. I am just hoping her family will insist she defers the trip until she is a more mature age.
So while I applaud the Youth Minister and her push to promote healthy body types, I would like to see Ms Ellis take it further.
Let's introduce a blanket ban on children even entering such competitions. Children have no place parading adult clothes on a catwalk and it is not right to encourage them to aspire to do so. Ms Ellis has said models under 16 would be banned from fashion shows under the Federal Government's planned code of conduct for the industry.
Great, but the same age restrictions could also be imposed on competitions that do little more than encourage children to grow up too quickly.
Tori should be playing with her pals and experimenting with make-up. Instead she is being paid to play a grown-up.
At least Ms Ellis seems committed to changing things. On Thursday, she announced a voluntary code of conduct for the media, fashion, health and beauty industry that would require them, among other things, to label a photograph that has been manipulated.
Another good idea, but I am not sure how effective it will be.
Will young girls stop to read the fine print or continue to be mesmerised by impossibly thin girls sculptured to perfection at the hands of a graphic artist?
That appears to be what happened to golden girl Stephanie Rice this week.
Such a physically perfect female, yet to appear on the cover of Inside Sport magazine Stephanie seems to have had her waist nipped, arms sculptured and legs thinned by an artist.
She ended up looking more Barbie doll than a health-conscious Aussie sports star.

 

[Dido]

I would say 16 and having finished high school for local modelling, and 18 for international. And I also think that a model career should last longer.

 

[b9409]

God she is such a kid! And walking like a sultry siren for Versace nonetheless...

I say she shouldn't!!! She is soo young and precious to pretend to be so sexy.

 

[jiaqi]

are you going to regulate sexiness by age? tanya is a professional model, and if versace is meant to look sexy, we should applaud her for endowing the dress with that sexiness

 

[b9409]

are you going to regulate sexiness by age? i recall somewhere in this thread someone suggested we ought not to find sexiness in karlie's underwear pics which i think were shot for alexander wang, but this kind of moralism is so misplaced - karlie is a professional model, and if versace is meant to look sexy, we should applaud her for endowing the dress with that sexiness

Yeah I do. What is she; 16?

That is perverted and gross in every way. But that is what is wrong with the modeling industry since God knows when. If I were a designer, I wouldn't work with any model younger than 18.

 

[madame_georgiana]

Yeah I do. What is she; 16?

She is 18.

 

[b9409]

She is 18.

...and I guess she has been working since she was 15, or maybe even 14!

 

[Kallu]

Yeah I do. What is she; 16?

That is perverted and gross in every way. But that is what is wrong with the modeling industry since God knows when. If I were a designer, I wouldn't work with any model younger than 18.

Bravo!! I'm totally agree with you. And I think editors, photographers, agents, etc. shouldn't do that too.
and yes, she is working since she was 14.

 

[mousyy]

..since she was 14. oh my God.

 

[kokobombon]

^In any case, it´s not the fashion world´s fault but her parents...

 

[Kallu]

oh! i forgot the parents, they are so guilty as fashion world is, and even more.

 

[b9409]

I think it is horrible that this girl has been working for the past 4 years and doing every show in the world... it is creepy.

I hate to see her objectified as a sex object even she looks older than her young age. (I mean, with all that make-up etc. everyone looks like a 25 year old of course) Not every show is like Marc Jacobs show.

It is wrong in every way, imo. Now she is 18, it is OK of course. She is most certainly old enough. But at 14, 15, 16..... No! And btw, I am not a prude in any way. Designers must have been a bit more perceptive about the message that they are sending. To me, this is worse than ultra-skinny girls controversy.

I mean I love DV, but is she joking??? She was 16 here!

style.com

 

[pitumpah]

some people are a bit too prude, sorry nothing against you and your opinions, I don't see nothing wrong with a young teen wearing sexy/revealing clothing (except in school etc), plus like someone else said models are professional, and their job is a lot similar to acting.
they shouldn't choose this work in the first place if this work don't meet their "morals", but this will end in so other many aspects...

 

[pitumpah]

pasha, you beat me to it lol, you say you aren't prude, um ok, but I think you are over reacting

ok I must admit I find it a bit disturbing too, using such young models to portray a femme fatal on runway and editorials.

I don't think Versace's message is "being sexy and desiderable by pedophiles"

she looks like a young woman in her early 20s, I see nothing wrong with it even though in reality she's 14 or 16.

 

[Elise1986]

I mean I love DV, but is she joking??? She was 16 here!

actually i don't see anything wrong with that dress; it's not like she's half naked. VS clothing has always been sexy, but not in a tacky kind of way.

 

[kokobombon]

I don´t think there´s nothing wrong with her runway shows/editorial works. And backstage she´s never a temptress but a cute and funny girl. The only time I felt uncomfortable about her age was with that nude pic for V, for me that was a bit too much giving that she wasn´t 18 at the time, was she?
But calling someone a prude just because they have opinions like Pasha it´s simplistic imo, we all come from different backgrounds, cultures, societies and have different views. As long as we don´t disrespect anybody I think it´s ok to discuss stuff like this, and just because Tanya visits this thread doesn´t mean we should only say nice things.

 

[TREVOFASHIONISTO]

she wasnt on the Versace runway with her boobs out
I see nothing wrong with her doing those shows Im her age..
thats like getting upset for Dakota Fanning playing a teen prostitute
in a movie..Tanya is given a look and she must perform it models are just like
actors in my eyes..you can obviously see thats not who she is in BS shots i thinks its a little late to be discussing this shes old enoguh now

 

[stefanelle]

I'd say that we won't put the clocks back, now is now and now she's 18, we have nothing to do with her decision to go modeling at 14 and we should rather focus on the effects of her work as a model, great model that she defenietely is

 

[Filipe]

I think it is horrible that this girl has been working for the past 4 years and doing every show in the world... it is creepy.

I hate to see her objectified as a sex object even she looks older than her young age. (I mean, with all that make-up etc. everyone looks like a 25 year old of course) Not every show is like Marc Jacobs show.

It is wrong in every way, imo. Now she is 18, it is OK of course. She is most certainly old enough. But at 14, 15, 16..... No! And btw, I am not a prude in any way. Designers must have been a bit more perceptive about the message that they are sending. To me, this is worse than ultra-skinny girls controversy.

I mean I love DV, but is she joking??? She was 16 here!
style.com

I don't think there's something wrong with that. There's girls that are fully developed physically at 12.