Mischa Barton to replace 14-year-old model Monika Jagaciak as the face of Australian Fashion Week
Mischa Barton has replaced 14-year-old Polish model Monika Jagaciak as the new face of Australian Fashion Week. The teenage model, a cover girl of Harper’s Bazaar, was dropped as a response to the fashion industry’s decision do adopt a minimum age for models.
Officials initially rejected pressure from critics such as the editor of Vogue Australia, who voiced concern about the sexualisation of children.
Simon Lock, the founder of the event, insisted that Jagaciak had the support of her parents and would be chaperoned as she flew to Australia as part of an entourage of European models. “There’s been criticism of the industry in the past for promoting the Lolita syndrome, but that’s something we will not stand for,” he said. “The designers love these models as coat hangers for their clothes. They don’t want to exploit their sexuality in any way whatsoever.”
The uproar forced the organisers into an awkward retreat. They announced a minimum age to be set at 16 “in light of industry and community concern regarding the acceptable age for models”. [Source]
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