LingerieFor Kids?

Recently a French lingerie designer, Sophie Morin, has caused an outrage from parents with a new collection of lingerie for girls between four and twelve and using pre-pubescent girls to model her range. The brand Jours Apres Lunes have the girls reclining on sofas in bras and pants, hair back combed and playing with Jackie O-style sunglasses and pearls.

The Daily Mail said the shots were "inappropriate for publication" as they featured "young girls in poses and styling that seem far too mature for their ages". Many parents are also expressing their outrage 'why cant we let our children be children for at least their childhood?'. In the US, the NY Daily News said the brand had "crossed the line from cute to seriously creepy".

These pictures are a reflection on our society where young children are dressing more mature for their age. Even just a decade ago children were wearing big jumpers with leggings and trainers not caring what they wore or what their peers thought. Now when you walk around girls are wearing t-shirts with 'flirty' emblazoned on the front along with mini skirts and heels. Whose fault is it? Parents for giving into their childrens demands? Society for allowing their role models to be more sexually explicit? or is it just the evolution of society that children are getting more mature?

Some people believe the reaction highlights the cultural gap between Anglo and French attitudes. While American and English journalists scorned the French designer, in France, they were less bothered. From a young age, girls practice being women especially in France. And on the Paris fashion scene there is no shortage of labels selling clothes that allow young girls to match their mothers in sophistication and sexiness. Agnes B, for example, has carried a 'Lolita' range since 1984.

There is no real teenage culture in France, no teenage television shoes, no Hillary Duff. Somehow, one goes straight from childhood to a semblance of adulthood," said Carol Mann, a French sociologist specializing in gender and childhood. "Hence the [portrayal] of the 'femme-enfant' such as Brigitte Bardot or Vanessa Paradis." When pictures of a 10-year-old French model, Thylane Loubry-Blondeau (daughter of French footballer Patrick Blondeau and TV presenter Veronika Loubry), in heavy make-up and gold stilettos recently appeared in Vogue, the response in England and America bordered on hysterical but in France it was a hugely successful campaign.

And as the blog MYFDB remarked: "Who didn’t play with makeup when they were younger"? True but as parents we should know the difference between playing and reality.