Model's Age - How Young Is Too Young?

[Vintage_Addict]

the agencies are all different now but it was my agency in tokyo that was really specific. gunn's. in paris and milan they never asked but i never did any fur there. i did a lingerie campaign in paris though and some lingerie editorial in milan. but it was all very tasteful.

it may have been also that the girls were making stupid money then. i mean they are now too, but it was the start of the stupid money then. and girls were probably pretty outspoken about their demands. also- i am from canada, canadians i think are a bit politically correct. and my canadian agency may have been very clear with the japanese agency.

and- i started at 15, i was in tokyo in 3 months after first going to the agency. it was an amazing experience and i only started getting into trouble [as in too much fun] when i was in my early 20s. but looking back i think i should have stayed in school. i really saw the world and interacted with different cultures. but i envy my sisters education and more importantly the friends she made at school.

 

[fashionkitten7]

Thank you for the answear !

You deserve Karma !

 

[Vintage_Addict]

you're welcome fashionkitten7 !

 

[eword]

i can't read in other ppl's mind, but it seems to me that what smartie meant wasn't that different from the latest opinions above. basically it's the model who states her limits, included being comfortable with going topless. so i suppose that if a career opportunity means going topless for an ed or stuff, the model is free to take this opportunity or not to take it, no matter how much pressure she gets. that's why, imo, smartie insisted also in determination. a good model should be determinated about her choices and attitude, in order to do the things she wants to do.
once i heard an interview to julia s. i don't know if she was sincere, but she said that when something is too much for her, she says no. i don't know about her honesty in saying that, but she seemed to have determination. she gave an example that it's determination to decide a model's 'anything'.

well, i also want to say that i don't understand all this trouble about topless. maybe because i'm european. but really it seems to me that for a high fashion model breast exposure should be the last of her thoughts. if i think of topless pictures of the models i prefer - amanda moore, erin wasson for instance - i see a lot of elegance, style, even intellectual quality. maybe just some of daria's topless pictures are a bit less styled, but imo they're the less representative of her personality and you can't see it in her weak expression in such pics.
different thing for the commercial models, since their body is just a 'soft' sex trade.

 

[smartarse]

Basically everyones posts are insightful. As for mine i'm mostly referring to major agencies in NYC and abroad (London, Paris and Milan).

And an established model may get away from opting a different direction from the photographer. But that's rarity and depending on who the photographer is. The worst thing that any model can do is when he/she directs the photographer (ex. if she says 'no' to his creative direction like being topless). Remember the Client hires the photographer for his artistic and creative work. That includes partial or full on nudity BUT tastefully if the photographer chooses to do so.

eword and yourbestfriend B) for understanding.

 

[princess_wendy]

anyone mentioned tallulah morton yet? she's 13 and still only in year 7!!!

and she's already doing quite provocative bikini/sexy pics.

 

[stylegurrl]

How Young Is Too Young For The Catwalk?

How young is too young for the catwalk?[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif] Italy considers ban on under-16s modelling at fashion shows
[/FONT][FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Barbara McMahon in Rome
[/FONT][FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Sunday February 5, 2006
[/FONT][FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Observer
[/FONT][FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Of all the models strutting the catwalks in Rome last week, two stood out. Marianna wore haute couture while Yasmeen was dressed in jeans and a white top. They represented opposite sides of an argument dividing the Italian fashion world - the 'baby models' issue.
Too many youngsters whose perfect peachy skin, gangly legs and flat chests make them ideal clothes-horses are being exploited as models before they are mature enough to cope, according to some sections of the fashion world. Now the Italian government is considering a crackdown. Responding to concerns about children who dream of being the next Natalia Vodianova or Gisele Bundchen, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso wants a code of ethics that will bar anyone under 16 from the catwalk.
The move, disclosed during the twice-yearly Roman fashion event AltaModa last week, has sparked renewed debate in Italy. Some model bookers say that the number of under-16s working on the catwalk is minimal and that it is harmless, while critics say that the pressures to look good and wear body-exposing clothes make it no place for very young girls.
AltaRoma featured the two girls in very different ways. Marianna , 15, wore sophisticated, sexy evening dresses by designer Marella Ferrera and strode the catwalk with adult models. Yasmeen, 13, daughter of an English mother and an Egyptian father, was picked by Roman designer Ettore Bilotta to make a different kind of fashion statement: a protest against the use of very young girls.
Yasmeen opened Bilotta's swimwear show in the resort of Sabaudia, north of Rome, by taking to the catwalk in her own clothes. Smiling for the photographers, she bared a set of braces, gave a confident twirl and walked off to watch the rest of the show from the front row.
'We saw her on the street and she's so beautiful and so tall, but when she came to us for casting and we found out she was 13 we told her she was too young,' said Sandro Rubini, executive director of Bilotta. 'Then we had the idea that she could make this statement. She had her hair and make-up done. She went on the catwalk for the first time only for a few minutes. It was a good experience for her.
'We wanted to send out the message that these girls are still babies, even if they seem grown-up. We are not interested in having very young models, because they don't look right on the catwalk. They haven't learnt to walk properly in high heels, for example, and they don't come over well in photographs.'
Yasmeen's mother, Vivienne Ledgerwood, who works for the United Nations in Rome, said her daughter enjoyed her debut but was too immature for modelling. 'She wants to be a top model like Naomi Campbell, but she has to concentrate on her schooling first,' she said. 'I thought it was a very effective gesture by the designer.'
A spokesman for Marella Ferrera, Eduardo Seire Risichella, said some younger girls were ready to work. 'Marianna is very intelligent, very elegant and very serious. She has been modelling with us for a year or so. She wanted to do this. Her mother accompanied her, so there were no problems.'
The head of AltaRoma, Stefano Dominella, said that regardless of any new law his organisation would prevent young teenagers from participating in future shows. Modelling 'encourages them to grow up too quickly'. Urso, the minister, said: 'I do not think girls under 16 should do it. We are ready to bring in a law if necessary.'
Concern has grown because girls from poor families in eastern Europe are being taken to Italy to model for big money, only to find it hard to cope with life on the fashion circuit. Booker Paola Baratto said: 'We are a service industry, and designers and photographers want these very young, very thin girls.'[/FONT] [FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006[/FONT]http://observer.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,5391887-119093,00.html

 

[KhaoticKharma]

^This is going to be a pretty hot topic.

You really can't change the fashion industry. I doubt laws will sway the big guys much- maybe they will still draft young 'ens, even if it means grooming them for two or three years.

 

[model_mom]

They can make all the laws they want but until someone including the agencies enforces it.....It doesn't mean s**t. Girls underage walk the catwalk all the time in Paris where it is against the law to use anyone under 16. Birth certificates can be altered and agents and models lie...all in the name of the almighty dollar.

 

[model_mom]

There is a whole topic somewhere in the model etc forum on this very subject.

But I want you to know that's a great article.

 

[Mr-Dale]

It is great article indeed! I was reading this and I was just agreeing completely. The youngest recent case of big time modelling in shows with a young girl was Tanya Dziahileva at the age of 14 for Prada, McQueen etc. I think she is absolutely gorgeous, but just too young to do this. If she were 2 years older, it would have made a worldy difference. She'll be older in mind, older in her body and just way more fit for modeling. I mean she is just a child now... at least when she is 16, she is an adolescent as far as I'm concerned. And then I think it is fine. I hope they will push this law through and that the industry will apply to it as well...

 

[KhaoticKharma]

They can make all the laws they want but until someone including the agencies enforces it.....It doesn't mean s**t. Girls underage walk the catwalk all the time in Paris where it is against the law to use anyone under 16. Birth certificates can be altered and agents and models lie...all in the name of the almighty dollar.

When I see Camila Finn pics from the Paris shows, I'll think back to this...

 

[supermodel]

i think 16 is the perfect age.. still a bit young, but if someone is really determined and prepared for it, they should do fine.

 

[Ungaro Kitty]

I think the risk is that some of these girl have yet to fully go through puberty. So though they have these young, hipless bodies at 14 - maybe a year later their true predetermined bodies will come out, with hips and all. So I think there is the risk that they will take it especially hard when the bookings dwindle, and might produce an increased risk of EDs... However if a girl is already 17, you know her structure won't change that much so they may have a more secure career (if anythin in the fashion world can be called secure).

 

[Whitelinen]

^You've got a good point in that. I think 16 is a good age to start modelling.

 

[FrenchCactus]

I've read an article in French Elle saying that models in Belarus aren't allowed to leave their country anymore for work purposes. So maybe modeling outside her country is the only way for Tanya to stay out of Belarus (which has remained a sort of communist country), regardless of her age. She probably feels lucky she got scouted on time

 

[Lil_Flip246]

I think if you're over 13, then it's alright.

 

[Trista]

I've read an article in French Elle saying that models in Belarus aren't allowed to leave their country anymore for work purposes. So maybe modeling outside her country is the only way for Tanya to stay out of Belarus (which has remained a sort of communist country), regardless of her age. She probably feels lucky she got scouted on time

That's an interesting fact-in that case at least she's signed and got scouted at the right time. I say that the idea of the no-under 16 rule is good-most of the time. In this case, Tanya should be an exception to the rule. If she was scouted in 2 years-well her chances of a career would be shot.

 

[devon_jay]

i think anything under 15 is tooo young! any younger than that, some girls havent even finished going through puberty yet!

 

[Fatty]

I say no modeling on the CATWALK until you are 18! An adult!