Latest in fashion- Sexy designer lingerie... for your kid
Designer diapers, yes. But Indian designers vehemently voice disapproval for kiddie lingerie lines, even as baby girls parade in fake breasts, sexy bras with pout et al abroad.
This bit of news sent shockwaves across the fashion fraternity as much as it shook up many parents of toddlers. When four-year-old baby girl Maddy Jackson was made to sport fake C-cup breasts, bottom padding, a pink lycra catsuit complete with a pout et al, for a reality show, to look like Hollywood singer-actor Dolly Parton, not many took it in good humour.
Maddy’s mom Lindsay sexualised the little girl barely out of her nappies. Recently, 10-year-old French model Thylane Loubry Blondeau’s provocative spread in an international fashion magazine also created an uproar.
More recently, a new French line of children lingerie, Jours Apres Lunes, became controversial in featuring adult underwear styles for girls from three months to teenagers. The baby models have been made to flaunt pearl encrusted triangle bra with alarmingly adult poses!
Back home in India, where designer diapers have already made way into the market, kids lingerie is still a distant reality. Designer Nishka Lulla, who dabbles in kiddie clothing lines, exclaims, “Kids should be me made to wear age-appropriate clothes. I don’t see it working in India.”
Tell her that stores that help parents and kids customise their outfits have already entered the city and Nishka justifies, “Customising wedding outfits is very different from giving them fake breasts. Parents should not take away that innocence.”
While inducing wrong body representation, such incidents also point to faulty parenthood. As designer Masaba Gupta, who also does kidswear, explains, “Though mostly a Western phenomenon, parents in India are also giving the kids the liberty to wear what they want. I now hear parents flying kids to foreign countries to celebrate their first birthday. It’s ridiculous. Just imagine what they’d grow up to be. Who is to draw the line?”
Designer Anita Dongre sounds aghast: “I think making a child wear fake breasts just to satiate the mother’s vision is absolutely wrong. As a designer, I respect and understand that women come in all shapes and sizes. But this is not about fashion. I think the mother needs to get her head fixed first! I make real clothes for real people and this is really shocking. Please leave the children alone!”