Fashion

Pushing underage models out of the spotlight

In New York, legislation has brought the working age of models up to a respectable 18, with younger models being considered child performers - this ensures earlier bedtimes, easier hours and lots of paperwork

Carolina Herrera at New York fashion week. Photograph: Getty Images

John Koblin
Tue Feb 11 2014 - 18:10

Through the first four days of New York Fashion Week, the runway has had a bit of a different look: The models appear to be a little older. Last October, the state of New York passed legislation that designated models younger than 18 as child performers. For these models, this means earlier bedtimes, easier hours and lots of paperwork. For designers who want to use an underage model, the law has created a logistical challenge.

“It’s a big change,” said James Scully, a casting director whose clients include Jason Wu, Derek Lam and Tom Ford. The majority of models Scully used to see before the current shows were younger than 18. (“Sixty percent,” he said, according to his own calculations). The new law seems to be weeding them out.

“This year, I saw more than 350 girls, and I only saw three that were under 18,” he said. “You know, they weren’t just 18-year-olds, either. A lot of these girls were really ranging between 20 and 24 years old, and I didn’t find the aesthetic looked any different from when they were 15. So it does prove that this can be done.”

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Carolina Herrera at New York fashion week. Photograph: Getty Images

Jessica Weinstein, another casting director, said that in the past, a model’s age was “never even a topic we brought up.” This season, she said, it was a subject discussed among casting directors, modeling agents and designers from the get-go.

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Lindsey Wixson

“Years ago we had girls that used to come with their mother,” said designer Carolina Herrera. “They were 14 or 15. I remember one Russian girl who used to come with her mother, and a Polish girl who used to come with their father because they were so young.” Herrera said she is in favor of the law and is not using any models younger than 18 for her show this season.

Lindsey Wixson (pictured left), 19, who started her modeling career at 15, said that she, too, supports the new law. "I think it's needed," she said at Herrera's showroom, where she was being fitted for Monday's show. "I started at a really young age, but I think it's good to keep it at 18 and above. For some girls, it's a little too much pressure."

The New York Times News Service