With the recent release of her new single 'Whip my hair' (which promises to be truly awful) Willow Smith (daughter of the Fresh Prince of taking his shirt off in movies) has really hit the spotlight. She has been featured in every magazine, front row at every fashion show, online and in blogs. Revered for her style. (apparently) But lets strip the celebrity gloss off this for one second and consider - this girl is nine years old.
She joins a wave of celebabies such as Suri Cruise, Tavi and Ceilia Cassini who are photographed, featured and written about by journalists the world over. It begs the question though,
When did having a childhood become un-Vogue?
Ceilia Cassini is not a household name -yet. But Grazia ran a feature on the 11 year old fashion designer. Yeah, 11. Who has been gathering column inches over the past few weeks. Word is that she has been given her own reality series. Following her trying to put together a collection. It's all kinds of wrong. She has her entire twenties to go to college, fall down in an exhausted heap over her graduate show, nearly go broke financing her collection and trying to make it into the glossy pages of Vogue. So why make her go through it now and loose her childhood?
Although it could be a clever plot by her mother. Think about it. She is worth column inches now because of her age. If she waited until 22/23 to start being a designer - it's just another college graduate trying to make it big in the world of fashion. There is no news about it. Therefore, a reality show or interviews can pay her way through design college.
The same with Tavi. If Tavi had not been 13, there would have been no interest. She would have been another blogger blogging about fashion. Not front row at Chanel. Her unique selling point is her age.
Or Suri Cruise. Who is pictured going everywhere with her mother in heels. At the age of three and said to help her mother make crucial styling choices - she's three!
But in saying all this, do celebrities really have a choice what happens to their children? They are in the limelight since day one. We pay for magazines to read about their pregnancies, births and first days at school. We are the ones feeding the demand for these children. It's a little bit worrying.
Adults are equipped to deal with rejection (well, meant to be) better then an 11 year old or 13 year old. What happens once the media hype over Tavi or Willow dies down? What would it be like to be a has-been at 15? Teenagers are not known for their ability to be anything but surly and emotional. The backlash for this could be huge.
Not to mention technical skills. Does a 11 year old know how to cut and tailor a dress like a Central Saint Martin's graduate of 22/23? I don't think so. The same way that Tavi is not a trained journalist. Hence the wave of bitterness between traditional media and bloggers.
whew. There is much room for debate here. Is it cute or obnoxious? Does the thought of the under 18's becoming professionals fill you with dread or doting?
Opinions please people!
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