Keith Girard
Kylie Jenner, the 14-year-old sister of of reality personality Kim Kardashian, is set to hit the catwalk for Avril Lavigne’s Abbey Dawn line, despite an effort endorsed by Vogue magazine’s Anna Wintour to ban models under the age of 16.
Designer Diane von Furstenberg and Steven Kolb, chief executive of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) are leading the campaign.
They want all models on the catwalk to be 16 or older in the major shows at New York Fashion Week, which began Thursday (Sept. 8).
The CDFA posted a notice on its Web site last week “strongly” advising designers to card models in an effort to comply with the CFDA‘s recommended age limit.
New York Fashion Week Schedule Major Shows
Thursday, Sept. 8 Go to Live Stream
• 10am: BCBG Max AzriaFriday, Sept. 9 Go to Live Stream
• 1pm: Jason Wu
• 2pm: Rebecca TaylorSaturday, Sept. 10 Go to Live Stream
• 5pm: Alexander Wang
• 6pm: Thakoon
• 9pm: Tommy HilfigerSunday, Sept. 11 Go to Live Stream
• 1pm: DKNY
• 4pm: Diane von Furstenberg
• 6pm: Thakoon
• 9pm: Tommy HilfigerMonday, Sept. 12 Go to Live Stream
• 10am: Carolina Herrera
• 2pm: Donna KaranTuesday, Sept. 13 Go to Live Stream
• 11am: Vera Wang
• 2pm: Herve Leger by Max Azria
• 4pm: Marc by Marc Jacobs
• 6pm: Oscar de la Renta
• 8pm: Narciso RodriguezWednesday, Sept. 14 Go to Live Stream
• 8pm: Proenza SchoulerThursday, Sept. 15 Go to Live Stream
• 3pm: Calvin Klein
• 8:30pm: Marc Jacobs
Click to See New York Fashion Week Streamed Live
Some designers are falling in line, but others in the industry are sharply protesting the move.
Marilyn Model Management added a statement to its show package promising to enlist only girls over 16.
“Marilyn Model Management is proud to support American Vogue and the CFDA’s age initiative,” the statement says.
“Marilyn guarantees that all models in our show package and others whom we promote for shows are sixteen years old and above.”
To that, one fashion blogger wrote: “Shit on It.”
Oddly Wintour has seemingly endorsed the policy, even though French Vogue caused an uproar when it ran a feature spread on model Thylane Blondeau. She’s all of 10 years old.
New York Fashion Week is the first major show where designers are under some pressure to comply with the CFDA advisory.
Enter Kylie Jenner.
She jetted into New York from Los Angeles today with plans to walk in Lavigne’s show. Will she be banned?
By rights she should. Allowing her to walk would clearly send the wrong signal from and industry that is under fire for the treatment of models.
The issue exploded last season when 15-year-old Hailey Clauson worked the catwalks. At least that was before the age limit was official CFDA policy.
Ironically, Von Furstenberg was the one who hired her.
Clauson added fuel to the fire last month when she was embroiled in a lawsuit over a racy photo that appeared in an Urban Outfitters ad, allegedly without her permission.
It’s illegal for girls or boys to pose nude under the age of 18, at least in the United States.
“It’s depressingly easy to get a fake ID, or to just lie about your age, which designer Michael Kors pointed out in his much-lauded Interview magazine Q&A with actress Lauren Hutton,” one blogger noted.
“Next girl walks in — she’s from Eastern Europe and 16. Next one? Eastern European and 16. I was like, “Was there a bus?” said an exasperated Kors.
Fashion blog site Fashion Copius has been a big critic of the plan.
In an unsigned statement, it noted that singer Justin Bieber was 14 when he was discovered and Elle Fanning is making movies at 13.
“Why are singers/actors able to start their career at such a young age, while runway models can’t? Is their’s an art, while a model’s not?”
In the name of protecting these girls, this act is actually ruining their potentials, and possibly careers. The window of opportunity is not that big to begin with.
Jenner will obviously make or break the rule. If she’s allowed to model for Lavigne, then how can anyone else be banned?