It used to be just fat and thin. Maybe black and white. Or tall and short. Then it became infiltrated with the complexity of gender and sexuality; gay, straight, transgender. But now it's back to basics; now it's old and young.
You've seen the pictures. In Vogue's December issue, she lay draped upon a tiger skin rug, fabulous designer dress on her back and shiny Louboutins hanging off her feet. Her skin is bronzed, her eyes are smoky and she wears her hair in an elegant chignon. Her lips are pouty, her arched cheek bones are highlighted with an overload of rouge but there's nothing so poignant about her empty model stare; she's just like all the others...but perhaps with more potential...perhaps because she's ten.
As you can imagine, Thylane Loubry Blondeau, the young daughter of former soccer star Patrick Blondeau and TV personality Veronica Loubry, has been heavily criticised for her provocative appearance in this high fashion editorial. Although I do partially understand the "pornographic undertone" of the spread, i find it to be extremely subjective as I was not, personally, struck by the sexual imagery I had been warned about. Instead, I saw the ironic sarcasm of a little girl, dressed to the nines (or tens) in mummy's wardrobe, with shoes too big amongst the exaggerated styling. For me, and the rest of Vogue's target audience, the controversy was tactful and purposeful and laced with satirical jibes towards the novelty of an industry; wherein everything and everyone is a product.
Like i said, the suggestive nature is highly subjective. Thylane is a child but that does not mean we have to view her perversely- that is the free will of the reader. Even nudity, of course, does not always aim to be perceived in a sexual way, if we take for instance the cultural norms of indigenous nations or the religious imagery of unclothed child-like cherubs.
Nevertheless, this is neither church, nor an examination of African tribes; this is the fashion industry. The same fashion industry that parades girls just 3 or 4 years older than Thylane, up and down runways for buyers, critics and editors. Dressed beyond their age and more seriously than Thylane, they compromise the dawn of their adolescence for the material gain of others- they are just pieces of meat - if even that. Our western world presents a frustrating dichotomy that attaches so much discomfort to adult material surrounding children, so that, ultimately we are confronted with a more alarming frenzy when an issue of this sort is brought to boiling point in the sensationalist media.
Society has made it very uncomfortable to write or talk about a child in this way. Can she really identify the ramifications of her mature styling? At her age i could have understood but would never have chosen to subject myself to this, nor would i condone a career like this for my own children or young family members. The psychological impact of being entered into a career at 10 years old should be carefully considered especially with regards to the frivolous fashion industry which, on the surface, thrives upon the importance of shallow morals and materialistic achievement. Furthermore, can she carry the burden and pressure of a high profile career when her BFF's are staying awake all night for the tooth fairy and dressing up like cinderella at each other's birthday parties.
Regardless, Thylane's ethereal physical beauty has awarded her a position as fashion's new muse amongst a playground gang of creepy couture kids such as 14 year old Hailee Steinfeld, Elle Fanning and 13 year old Chloe Moretz. She is just a by-product of the extremities to which fashion is intrinsically drawn. In this same Vogue Paris issue, guest edited by Tom Ford, there was a spread entitled "Forever Love", wherein older women with grey hair and wrinkles to boot, indulged in more than just designer luxury; proving that style outlives an age limit. With models like Kristen McMenamy and Lindsey Wixson, with a polarising 30 year age gap, often frequenting the same catwalks and high-fashion magazines; they are becoming the faces of rewritten clichés.
This intense portrait of extreme youth, is disturbing but knowingly so. Thylane is not overtly sexualised because in HIGH fashion, sex doesn't sell; good clothes do. Instead she, like all other models, is presenting an unrealistic "je ne sais quoi" essence which is commonplace in the fantasy of fashion editorials; whose freedom of expression is the force that generates the hype.
Whether you're repulsed or accepting of the pictures, one thing's for sure, it has got you talking and Tom Ford knows that controversy sells better than sex and good clothes.
14 year old Hailee Steinfeld for MiuMiu
Taken from Tom Ford's "Forever Love" editorial, featured in the same issue of Paris Vogue as Thylane's spread.
You've seen the pictures. In Vogue's December issue, she lay draped upon a tiger skin rug, fabulous designer dress on her back and shiny Louboutins hanging off her feet. Her skin is bronzed, her eyes are smoky and she wears her hair in an elegant chignon. Her lips are pouty, her arched cheek bones are highlighted with an overload of rouge but there's nothing so poignant about her empty model stare; she's just like all the others...but perhaps with more potential...perhaps because she's ten.
As you can imagine, Thylane Loubry Blondeau, the young daughter of former soccer star Patrick Blondeau and TV personality Veronica Loubry, has been heavily criticised for her provocative appearance in this high fashion editorial. Although I do partially understand the "pornographic undertone" of the spread, i find it to be extremely subjective as I was not, personally, struck by the sexual imagery I had been warned about. Instead, I saw the ironic sarcasm of a little girl, dressed to the nines (or tens) in mummy's wardrobe, with shoes too big amongst the exaggerated styling. For me, and the rest of Vogue's target audience, the controversy was tactful and purposeful and laced with satirical jibes towards the novelty of an industry; wherein everything and everyone is a product.
Like i said, the suggestive nature is highly subjective. Thylane is a child but that does not mean we have to view her perversely- that is the free will of the reader. Even nudity, of course, does not always aim to be perceived in a sexual way, if we take for instance the cultural norms of indigenous nations or the religious imagery of unclothed child-like cherubs.
Nevertheless, this is neither church, nor an examination of African tribes; this is the fashion industry. The same fashion industry that parades girls just 3 or 4 years older than Thylane, up and down runways for buyers, critics and editors. Dressed beyond their age and more seriously than Thylane, they compromise the dawn of their adolescence for the material gain of others- they are just pieces of meat - if even that. Our western world presents a frustrating dichotomy that attaches so much discomfort to adult material surrounding children, so that, ultimately we are confronted with a more alarming frenzy when an issue of this sort is brought to boiling point in the sensationalist media.
Society has made it very uncomfortable to write or talk about a child in this way. Can she really identify the ramifications of her mature styling? At her age i could have understood but would never have chosen to subject myself to this, nor would i condone a career like this for my own children or young family members. The psychological impact of being entered into a career at 10 years old should be carefully considered especially with regards to the frivolous fashion industry which, on the surface, thrives upon the importance of shallow morals and materialistic achievement. Furthermore, can she carry the burden and pressure of a high profile career when her BFF's are staying awake all night for the tooth fairy and dressing up like cinderella at each other's birthday parties.
Regardless, Thylane's ethereal physical beauty has awarded her a position as fashion's new muse amongst a playground gang of creepy couture kids such as 14 year old Hailee Steinfeld, Elle Fanning and 13 year old Chloe Moretz. She is just a by-product of the extremities to which fashion is intrinsically drawn. In this same Vogue Paris issue, guest edited by Tom Ford, there was a spread entitled "Forever Love", wherein older women with grey hair and wrinkles to boot, indulged in more than just designer luxury; proving that style outlives an age limit. With models like Kristen McMenamy and Lindsey Wixson, with a polarising 30 year age gap, often frequenting the same catwalks and high-fashion magazines; they are becoming the faces of rewritten clichés.
This intense portrait of extreme youth, is disturbing but knowingly so. Thylane is not overtly sexualised because in HIGH fashion, sex doesn't sell; good clothes do. Instead she, like all other models, is presenting an unrealistic "je ne sais quoi" essence which is commonplace in the fantasy of fashion editorials; whose freedom of expression is the force that generates the hype.
Whether you're repulsed or accepting of the pictures, one thing's for sure, it has got you talking and Tom Ford knows that controversy sells better than sex and good clothes.
14 year old Hailee Steinfeld for MiuMiu
Taken from Tom Ford's "Forever Love" editorial, featured in the same issue of Paris Vogue as Thylane's spread.
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