A Fashion Show For Kids – Really?

Posted: January 31, 2012

I read about this first in TOI (Paper I get at home, you know..the hard copy!)….a Fashion Week for Kids…I mean for Kids!! I was appalled, all upset and worried about how parents are actually letting their kids be models at such a tender age…and then I read about women I admire like Maria Goretti and Sushmita Sen taking part as show stoppers or whatever with their children and that upset me even more.

And then I read this article in NDTV about some people saying that it’s an exploitation of kids while others saying that no it’s not, because children enjoyed it and there was no pressure and that the fashion week was tied up with a charity.

Then I thought hard….and I realised my views on the topic don’t change.

I don’t agree to this fashion week. I mean…no, even if it’s tied up with a charity, I don’t agree to it. In simple words, NO.

There may be no pressure, but why are you teaching kids that you need to be fashionable…I mean seriously! At 10 years, do they worry about how to get that extra bit of cheese from or what to wear while going down to play??

I agree kids need to be dressed well…but fashion for kids! I can’t imagine..I mean, ‘when you are a kid, you worry about when to play, not about how to dress while you go down to play…’ and logically, with all these designer clothes, can you even play is my question!

Or even if you go to a birthday party, or wedding, or whatever function where you apparently need to be ‘well dressed’, children = play. Anytime, anywhere, is it possible with such clothes…however user friendly they are..at the end of the day, why parade children in them…

I can’t understand the concept. If people really wanted to do charity, make it a ‘paint for a week’ campaign on a dirty wall, or read a book for a slum kid for a week or something like that…but fashion show!

And what would you say about celebrities endorsing such stuff? Sohail Khan (I dont dislike the guy, I dont love him either, I am pretty neutral to him) says, if children get a platform to showcase their talent, it helps them gain confidence: (all quotes below from this article linked to).

“There is nothing wrong in it (letting kids show their talent), it only increases their confidence. That’s why we even have dramatics in school, the kids grow up and open up to the world and get some kind of confidence in them,” the 41-year-old said here at the India Kids Fashion week.

There is a HELL OF DIFFERENCE between doing dramatics in school and walking on the ramp under the glare of the camera.

“Today I was backstage and saw the kids, all of them were so adorable and sweet, they get our childhood back,” he added.

Of course all kids are adorable and sweet – you don’t need to go backstage of a fashion show to figure out that out…you can find it in your own children, boss!

“A lot of people, thankfully, with generosity have become charitable, which is great. If you earn money, you should also contribute some to the society. It’s even tax-free. So I would say, earn from the rich and give it to the poor,” said Sohail, whose last film as a producer, “Ready”, garnered accolades.

Charity is tax-free – and that’s why you are doing a FASHION SHOW! I am shocked, upset and angry at such statements…I may be over reacting and then RD would tell me perhaps to think rationally…but in this case I can’t…I can’t imagine WHY we need fashion for kids.

In fact the shop I go to buy the school uniform for R, it has pictures of kids striking all model type poses for various clothes they are wearing, and I was always wondering who on earth would have thought about modeling kids…and then I read about the kids fashion week.

My questions

1) Are the parents of kids whose children participate really okie with this? I mean, is it about the fame, or do you think your children are really more confident after this show?

2) Am I a stupid parent?

3) Do kids really need ‘fashion’? Does it really help them in developing any ‘skills’?

Pic credit: Maciek Zygmunt (Used under a Creative Commons license)