10-year-old Vogue model: Pretty or pretty weird?‎

[BBDSP]

Just too soon. Couldn't they wait even a couple of years, or better yet, 4 or 5? Or just let her model for more appropriate pictures now (ie, as a child model)?

Her parents must be imbeciles. Childhood goes way too fast as it is. Even if she manages not to get totally fucked up, I imagine she'll still be jaded way before her time.

[piperdiva]

Another Brooke Shields

[Palermo]

She is going to be gorgeous, but why take her childhood away from her

[OrangeSlice]

And all of the Toddlers and Tiara's parents' eyes just glazed over. I feel skeevy just looking at it.

[angelais]

Who buys this ?

Teresa from Real Housewives of New Jersey, probably.

[Kittylady]

Disturbing and wrong, wrong, wrong.

[NVash]

Monday, August 1 - 10:24 am ET

‘Sexy’ Images Of 10-Year-Old Girl/Fashion Model Thylane Blondeau Go Too Far

5 days ago by Ashley Cardiff | 83 Comments | Share a Tip

By Dani Brubaker

A little while back, Tom Ford guest-edited an issue of French Vogue that featured a lot of images on the theme of age: Crystal Renn was a past-her-prime plastic surgery casualty, mature models groped each other in a racy ed called Forever Love, 70-year-old Betty Catroux sat for a portrait and a then-15-year-old Daphne Groeneveld posed seductively on the cover alongside Ford himself.
But what we remember most was this:

By Sharif Hamza for French Vogue

At the time, we said the all-little girl spread was “unsettling,” whether it was satire or not. Turns out the star of the ed is a model from the Ivory Coast named Thylane Lena-Rose Blondeau. She’s got a striking level gaze, a grown-up pout and dancer’s legs. She’s racked up editorials all over the place and starred on a Vogue Enfants cover. She is also ten years old.
On Friday, Fashionista pondered if the 10-year-old’s sudden success was disturbing or not. While over at a Tumblr dedicated to Blondeau, such concerns were dismissed as American “uptight culture.” For example:
It’s all a matter of culture. If she’s raized that way and mostly of european ppl have, how could they see a problem in it? Just because America have a more uptight culture, it doesn’t mean the other ones are wrong and “too sexualized”
First off, sic, sic, sic. Secondly, this isn’t a situation where we have a naked little kid on a beach. This is a situation where we have a child being consistently photographed like an adult. For example:

By Dani Brubaker

Put five (four?) years on her and that’s a Diesel ad. Feel free to call me a Puritan if you wish, but I will remain unsettled by this. I will also wonder if you know what Puritan means.
Here’s a slideshow of Thylane’s fashion work. Plenty of it is age appropriate, some of it arguably isn’t.
Sure, it’s not technically NSFW, but you probably wouldn’t want your boss spotting a topless 10-year-old on your computer, either. Yes, please note that the final slide depicts her essentially topless.
[UPDATE: We've removed the slideshow. You can see more of Thylane's work at Jezebel, Fashionista, Styleite]
[UPDATE II: If you'd like to learn more, here's the explanation.]
[UPDATE III: Her mother, Veronika Loubry, has responded]

You can reach this post's author, Ashley Cardiff, on twitter or via e-mail at ashley@thegloss.com.
Source: ‘Sexy’ Images Of 10-Year-Old Girl/Fashion Model Thylane Blondeau Go Too Far | TheGloss

I dont understand how any of this is considered art. Maybe some of the photos but some are just wrong IMO.

Thursday, August 4 - 3:19 pm ET

Photographer Dani Brubaker Isn’t Pleased With The Response To Her Images Of Thylane Lena-Rose Blondeau

2 days ago by Ashley Cardiff | 7 Comments | Share a Tip


Images of 10-year-old model Thylane Lena-Rose Blondeau caused a sensation this week, with commentary from fashion blogs, women’s blogs, and various news outlets (including a segment on GMA this morning). When we originally wrote about Blondeau, we were put off to see her “consistently being photographed like an adult,” or a (comparatively) older model: namely, that blank but direct gaze so popular in fashion magazines, the lips parted, and a particular image in which she’s subtly tugging down the waistline of her jeans.
As it turns out, every single one of the photos (with the exception of those from French Vogue) come from a single source:


photographer Dani Brubaker, who has shot children in campaigns for Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, and many more. Her mission statement–as it appears on her blog and Facebook is–”I grew up by the code of the Native American Indian. The code, which venerates children yet allows them freedom of self-expression.”
We were contacted by Brubaker’s team about not properly crediting the images. We asked which belonged to Brubaker and said we were happy to credit her. They responded, “Every photo that you are using except for the Vogue image belongs to Dani Brubaker. Since the article is in a negative tone we wish to not participate. Please remove each image from your site as there copyrighted and belong to Dani Brubaker.” She declined further comment.


A lot of the responses to the images are extreme–”horrifying,” “shocking,” more than a few compare the shots of Blondeau to child pornography. I don’t agree with that. I think that many of the images are age-appropriate but some are very, very questionable in terms of how they depict a child. A few go so far as to become unsettling (like this “implied nude” as Jezebel’s Jenna Sauers referred to it).
It’s unfortunate that Brubaker is uncomfortable with the criticism and thus (seemingly) wants to stymie discussion. You can see more of the photos in question at Jezebel, Fashionista, Styleite, Radar, the Daily Beast or read some more opinions at Feministe, our sister site Mommyish, or here and here and here and here…)
[Photos: Dani Brubaker]

Source: Photographer Dani Brubaker Isn’t Pleased With The Response To Her Images Of Thylane Lena-Rose Blondeau | TheGloss

The photographer isnt too happy with how things turned out.

Friday, August 5 - 1:30 pm ET

Thylane Blondeau’s Mother Responds To Media Frenzy

1 day ago by Ashley Cardiff | 5 Comments | Share a Tip


French TV presenter turned clothing designer Veronika Loubry has responded to the controversy surrounding photos of her daughter, 10-year-old model Thylane Blondeau. Loubry has closed Thylane’s official Facebook page (to the public) with the following message:
hey guys im the mum of thylane something going ‘s wrong at the moment with thylane and bad personn in usa about pictures she make’s 8 months ago for vogue ,,thylane doesn’t know about the buzz and i want to protect her from the deapest of my heart ,,, she’s so young ,, so we are going to close this accompte for a while ,,i know all of you are good person who like her so i send you a big kiss,,thanks
The Tumblr dedicated to her has also been shut down.

You can reach this post's author, Ashley Cardiff, on twitter or via e-mail at ashley@thegloss.com.

Source: Thylane Blondeau’s Mother Responds To Media Frenzy | TheGloss

Nor is her mother, so shes shutting the whole thing down. Im glad its over for the time being.

[Kittylady]

It’s all a matter of culture. If she’s raized that way and mostly of european ppl have, how could they see a problem in it? Just because America have a more uptight culture, it doesn’t mean the other ones are wrong and “too sexualized”

I'm British and I think these pictures are too sexualised. I'm also going to sue my mother for repressing my childhood sense of expression because I certainly wasn't raised in a way that thought that young children posing in provocative stances was perfectly acceptable.Hell, if Ma Kitty had found pictures of me posing like this at 16 she would have bounced my arse to Kingdome Come and back again.

[greysfang]

Beautiful child, let her be one.

[dowcat]

Poor kid!



It's so wrong!
http://f.i.uol.com.br/f5/geral/images/11209368.jpeg

[kasippu]

It was in the January issue, so I do not understand why all the fuss now? The aim was to shock and it did (I for one found it disgusting) It was rumoured that Roitfeld lost her job over this one (amongst other rumours).

But this and toddlers and tiaras, same same.