How China's Fashion Sector Exploits its Youngest Stars
By Marianna Cerini
Additional reporting by Tongfei Zhang
Photos by Nicky Almasy
Two photographers and a stylist have taken over the sidewalk of a leafy street in Shanghai’s former French Concession for a regular weekend photo shoot. It is a familiar scene. But this time, the subject is neither a soon-to-be-married couple posing for wedding photos, nor a woman toting a local brand’s latest winter trends. It’s a child, or to be more precise: a toddler. Gao Yu is 3 years old.
The seemingly happy boy is wearing leather pants and a bomber jacket, bright red sneakers and a sweater with a monster drawn on it. All the items are from a Taobao store specializing in children’s wear. He poses, balanced on the curb, making endless different faces for the camera until another kid on a bike cycles past and steals his attention.
“One more,” says the photographer. “No thank you,” the youngster responds politely. And, just like that, the shoot is suspended.
“Can I go pee now?” the boy asks his mum, who has checked every single shot on the photographer’s camera screen. “Yes, but you only have five minutes,” she replies. “We still have two more outfits for the catalog."
Such is the life of a child model. Fueled by an exponential growth in demand for children’s wear and items, child modeling has become a highly lucrative slice of China’s fashion and media industries in recent years.
According to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics, urban Chinese parents of only children devote nearly 30 percent of their expenditure to items for their offspring. This, in turn, has created a need for young models and baby actors to advertise products – from clothes and costumes to strollers and toys. Many parents have taken advantage of this opportunity to make a little extra income from the trend.
To be continued...
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