The older I get, the more I dislike the fact that the fashion and beauty industries use 15 year olds to sell things to me. I understand if a beauty product or fashion line is specifically geared towards a teenage demographic and they use teenage models – that’s fine. But when a major beauty line uses a 15-year-old to move products that are targeted to women in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s? Nope. I don’t even care if that 15-year-old is the daughter of one of the most famous models in the world. That’s right: Cindy Crawford’s 15-year-old daughter Kaia Gerber has picked up her first beauty contract. She’s the new face of Marc Jacobs Beauty.
It was just a handful of months ago when Kaia and Cindy graced their first Vogue cover together (Vogue Paris), and Kaia was just 14. It seemed like Cindy was gently trying to introduce her daughter to that world, and I had high hopes that Cindy was going to be very strict about how Kaia entered the modeling world. Not so much. Kaia signed to IMG a few months ago, and she’s already being called the Breakthrough Model of the Year (AT 15!!). And this Marc Jacobs contract is her first big endorsement. Granted, the photos are lovely, and it’s not like I was personally going to buy anything from Marc Jacobs beauty line anyway. But still. This seems… inappropriate. Kaia told Allure:
“I’m so excited and honored that my first beauty campaign is with Marc Jacobs, an icon in the fashion industry. I’m obsessed with his beauty products, and like everything else he does, Marc Jacobs Beauty makes you feel feminine and playful.”
Really? At 15, she’s already obsessed with Marc Jacobs’ beauty products? Oh, and did you know that Kaia was also part of Alexander Wang’s #WangSquad? It’s true – she modeled for Wang or she was some sort of brand ambassador. (Incidentally, I think #WangSquad should be Marvel’s new hashtag, either that or #SausageParty.)
And here’s another layer: Kaia won’t get even half of the sh-t that Jaden and Willow Smith got for their teenage modeling contracts. I wonder why?
Photos courtesy of Marc Jacobs Beauty Istagram.
Perplexed by parents who think it is a good idea for their child to be enter an industry that bases their value on looks only. And yes, a 15 year old is a child.
Well at least in this case her mother was a model and seems to have survived it with style and grace so I can see how she can guide her daughter though the pitfalls so I have high hopes Kaia won’t be yet another tragic story a few years down the road. On the other hand anyone who looks that good, and is that young, really can’t tell me much about making my wizened old face more beautiful!
I don;t think she’s guiding her that well considering someone from the Jenner/Baldwin club just posted a photo of her with them posing in front of a mirror at a party. These girls are 4-5 years older than her and not a good influence.
Two thoughts.
Willow and Jaden are more interesting than Kaia and I will take them all day over this admittedly pretty celebrity nothing.
I don’t want to buy anything sold by a teenager. I dislike the fact that underdeveloped (teenage) bodies are shown as the pinnacle of desirability.
Third, holy nepotism Monday batman. What is going on here? A whole set of celebrities have shown their female spawn their best, and maybe only, value is looking hot in fancy clothing. Almost like we live Ina culture that values hotness in women over anything else’s day their parents reinforced it.
Can we get articles on the celebspawn than go to school and life guard or teach camp kids, or even work in grocery store? Does this never happen?
Jaden is a very interesting model and I like his embrace of androgyny. I think Willow has one of the most beautiful faces I’ve ever seen in my life so I am happy to see her model.
Kaia…is pretty. She is! But she’s very bland-pretty.
Celebspawn that go to school and life guard are most definitely not looking for attention nor will they get it because there would be nothing to write. Nobody should seek them out anyway. I mean let the poor girl lifeguard in peace, its not her fault that her dad is Steven Spielberg or whoever.
I don’t disagree with what you’re saying, but this is precisely the outcome they’re looking for. They’re not looking to make us customers. It’s generational change.
OMG. Yes, they were always an after-thought but after that other post of them, I realize they are STRIKING. I buy it. Kaia… looks pretty but pretty generic to me.
In 2006 I bought a gorgeous pair of Chanel shoes (I saw them, loved them, bought them w/out asking price, $895, yikes!!) they were glorious. White satin toe with a black heel & black satin ribbon that tied at the ankle. So pretty.
Then one day I’m reading WWD & there are photos of an event. Marc Jacobs was escorting Dakota Fanning. She was wearing those shoes. She was 12. I’ve never worn them since. It was upsetting on such a level that a child was wearing such a shoe. Struck me in a ‘Pretty Baby’ sort is way. It’s seems Jacobs has this pattern
you have no idea how very well spoken people from the industry are. I was “discovered” when I was 12 and my mom was like HELL NO.
But then, at 13 she got millions of calls and of course I was on board and at 14 I already did all 4 major FWs.
Then my friend, now a famous furniture designer, was raped in Japan by guests of a client… At 16 I got back to my education and never looked back. Mom was always there for me, she was supportive and payed from her own money just to be near me. It was cool for me since I was a kid, but now, looking back, I can only think of one thing: If I have a daughter there is no way I will allow her to model. No one will be able to convince me it is a good idea.
Milla, I’m really interested to know, what was it like being shuttled around the world to wear clothes for other people as a teen?
Was it overwhelming, or was it actually pretty fun? What was your favourite fashion week to walk at?
Enquiring minds want to know! 🙂
@Milla – i worked in the fashion publishing industry and heard horror stories from several models I worked with (male and female). Sexual assaults happen all the time, esp with younger girls who are new to the industry and are abroad at a shoot or a show. Almost none of the assaults are reported as if you do report it, your career is over there and then. She also said the industry is crawling with men like Terry Richardson.
Amelia, it was chaotic. I had fun, cos I got to see famous designers, models, I got to work with some famous people, but I also had to lie about my age (agent taught that), I never got enough sleep and I always felt like I am not skinny enough, or I am too blonde, too short, too tall… I ended up with serious self-esteem issues.
You barely see the city, you sleep when and where you can, food is optional, it is pretty humiliating. If I was older, like 18, maybe I would stay at that world longer. But when you are 14,15, you are simply too young to understand so many things. In about a year and a half I went to Athens, Barcelona, Vienna, then Paris, London, Milan and by the time I got to NYC I was done.
I was lucky, really. My agent from Paris was a wonderful woman, she still works at IMG I think, not sure, that was 18 years ago. She told me things, like very bad things that I should look out from. She loved my mom, so yes, nothing bad happened to me. I got two contracts, lots of money and skipped almost every party. I did manage to see that world and that is okay, but it is not a job. You are like an animal in a Zoo. The man who managed me in Vienna was later arrested for child prostitution. It is all very Alice in Wonderland, only with coke, pimps, shady people, models who cannot even speak english, which was sad to watch.
Being rejected at castings was the worst feeling. Like you are not good enough. That feeling never goes away. Then you see yourself in a magazine and you are like “Why didn’t that designer like me?”
My fave FW was London, because I got to meet V. Westwood, my hero from teen days. My least fave was NY, cos the competition is crazy and you got too many people there, everything was too much. Barcelona was a lot more relaxed, I got to see the city, I got small gigs, but they were helpful.
I do not know what the situation is now, but back then, every single FW was the opposite of organized. You are just happy to see girls you worked with. I got to wear shoes size 37, I wear 39. The clothes were sometimes too big, so I had pins in my back. Girls used buses and metro, but my mom always called a cab, so I really, really was lucky. She would wait outside for hours.
As for the girls. only few of them made it really. Most of them gave up, even after scoring major campaigns. We did have fun, but we had no idea how dangerous it was. We had some dinners, like social gathering and there were all these men sitting, just looking at us. Years later I realized we were nothing more that escort. But the agency tells you to go, so you go.
milla, thanks so much for sharing your stories. They remind me of the documentary “Picture Me” by Sarah Ziff, who filmed the good & the underbelly of her modeling career. She eventually went back to school to get her degree from Columbia and now works as a labor activist in the fashion industry.
Christy Turlington is another favorite of mine. Back in ’94 during a Letterman interview, she told him she started at 15 (local work) & moved to NYC at 18. He asked her if she had a young daughter if she would let her model. The answer was an immediate “No” and when pressed she said carefully navigated the question: “It’s not that it’s not a good job, it’s just that you have to — it’s great if you do it very well, and if you don’t do it well, people can be… not so nice.” She also mentioned that it was difficult if you had a sensitive personality.
Christy also went back to school at the height of her career, scaling back all but a few contract obligations. I think she recently got her masters in Public Health from Columbia. Her documentary “No Woman No Cry” about global maternal health is very good.
@Marie3 There is a documentary similar to “Picture me” called “Girl model” -‘the modeling industry’s ‘supply chain’ between Siberia, Japan, and the U.S., told through the experiences of the scouts, agencies, and a 13-year-old model. ‘ It’s both fascinating and very disturbing.
@D: Yes! I saw that doc too (thanks for adding it). A ll these young, destitute, girls from the Eastern Block are so hopeful they are going to be the next Natalia Vodianova & get their family out of poverty. The industry seduces them with that idea, then those sinister accounting practices kick in and they are locked into indentured servitude.
I think Sara and another former model are trying to put an end or at least reform that issue.
Hey D, never saw the other movie you mentioned.
I loved, loved the BBC documentary about fashion scouts, back in late 90s or early 00s. It was about Elite Model Management, but it basically speaks about men behind all models. I remember seeing it and thinking MacIntyre is the best.
But it is all just the surface. People talk about weight, as in girls do not eat, they vomit, no one mentions that they get ADs and other drugs to keep off weight. No one talks about how many young models commit suicide because they cannot go back, since they come from poor families and when agents know that, they do make them do things no one wants hear.
Maire3, you are welcome, did not even think about all that for ages until today. It is like another life for me.
There are jealous comments but of course this is a good idea. It’s not like modeling can take you through to retirement age. You have to make money when it’s the right time and the window of opportunity has now opened. This is their world and how they make a living. Her mother will be there and knows what the risks are. She will guide her.
She is pretty, very pretty. But also, in a real world no one would sign her, cos she is too short. So, yes, this is nepotism, but on the other hand her mom is a supermodel, she knows everyone, Kaia will be fine. Unless Cindy turns into momager Kris.
So were jealous because we think it a bad idea to push a young child in the modeling business.
Let’s be real she got the contract because of mother she could have waited until she was 19/20 and sill have agencies wanting her because of nepotism.
^^^ this. I always side-eye children working on the ‘industry’. Never understand why celebrities talk about how hard it is and then toss their kids right into it at very young ages.
Why is every celebrity child a ‘model’ now. Can normal beautiful people be models anymore????
She’s flawless…beautiful…but I agree…too young to be selling me products!
This is creepy “pretty baby” for me. Sorry. I just get weirded out by children in make up
Why does this news not make me feel feminine and playful??
MTE. I don’t know about everyone else, but I feel positively androgynous and solemn at the mention of Marc Jacobs.
She’s a pretty young girl (emphasis on the ‘girl’) but just because some of these kids have model pedigrees in their families doesn’t mean they should automatically get first dibs on all these contracts left, right and centre without proving their mettle first.
There’s a great article that ran in Vanity Fair in the last week or so where a fashion insider was blasting the insta-generation of models, I’ll see if I can find a link to it.
EDIT: said insider is Robert Verdi and the link is below ~
http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2016/09/kendall-jenner-gigi-hadid-supermodel-magic-robert-verdi
Haha! ” androgynous and solemn” Me too!
LOLLLLL
I won’t touch anything Marc Jacobs tbh…
I love that she won model of the year before even signing on to any contracts.
Yeah, she probably had that title as a birth right and everyone waited for her to be fully grown to offer it.
LOL exactly!
but they didn’t wait till she was fully grown, now, did they? she’s a 15 year old girl…..
Yeah, this is ridiculous. Nepotism in the modeling industry has reached a whole new level. She’s a pretty girl, but she looks vacant…. I just don’t get this.
ALSO, I’d love for a makeup company to choose a relatively normal person to model makeup. Like, putting makeup on an already pretty person doesn’t mean anything to me…. put some makeup on a normal person and show me how it highlights her good features and makes her look refreshed or whatever, that’d be nice.
I have rosacea. If a commercial showed a before and after on how their products even that out I’d buy them in a heartbeat.
Came here to say the same thing… she looks vacant to me.
Her daughter has been attempting to glam up for years and considering her age that’s just a little sad.
“Nepotism in the modeling industry has reached a whole new level.”
I actually think it’s not as bad here since at least this one kind of looks like her mom, who had a look that was successful and still is. Face-wise, she has that going for her…I think? I have no idea how tall she is though.
I think the success of the Hadids is more confusing to me, since their faces don’t photograph as well to showcase make-up. The headshots of one of the Hadid sisters at the make-up counter in the drug store don’t look that good compared to others who are photographed.
I think the Hadids are better models. Bella looks really interesting amd Gigi is a good VS type model. Kaia is so bland. She reminds me so much of Kendall Jenner.
Maybe they’re good in their other work. I just don’t like their make-up ads I see in the store. To be fair, their bone structure might not be what I’ve grown accustomed to seeing for that kind of modelling work. Some of what the industry decides we should see in a model is arbitrary so it’s harder for me to say that so-and-so isn’t a model. I think it’s easier to say when someone is a terrible singer or a terrible actress or a terrible writer, but I’m not entirely sure what constitutes terrible or really good modelling in still photos (especially since the photographer also contributes to how the photo turns out).
I feel sad for the millions of girls/women who wish they had this job, but don’t have a famous parent. Is Kaia really that striking? I dunno.
I don’t find her striking at all. She looks very young yet, but I don’t understand why we need a model who is a carbon copy of her mother’s looks but doesn’t bring even the slightest fraction of the appeal that her mom did. I don’t understand models today, but these designers only care about “models” who have a lot of followers on Instagram, so there’s a lot of things I don’t understand.
Me neither and I’m not trying to be mean.
She’s cute, that’s all.
No, she is not striking. So tired of the entertainment/fashion industries for constantly pushing talentless celeb-spawn in our faces. Rumer Willis, all of the Jenners, Kelly Osbourne, Chelsea Clinton’s lackluster stint as a news correspondent, Jaden Smith’s “acting” career, etc. etc.
Are you kidding? Jaden Smith was AWESOME in Karate Kid!!!
It’s fine to not like her or her “achieving” instant success but I’m not sure how you can say she isn’t striking. She’s gorgeous. She’s young and unformed, which leads to a certain blandness but she’s undeniably beautiful.
I don’t think Cindy Crawford was really that striking either face-wise compared to other models like Linda Evangelista or whoever else. Beautiful, yes, with incredible hair, and Amazonian in physique and height, but I don’t know if her actual face is that striking (although anybody is more striking to me than Cheryl Tiegs. Maybe that’s why Cindys look look was successful in modelling. At the time, she most likely appeared “exotic” compared to the uber-blandness of Tiegs. Perhaps we’ve gotten so used to seeing Crawford’s look look now that her daughter doesn’t appear as striking).
Cindy Crawford came along at the right time – just when the modeling world needed a new Gia. When Crawford started out, they used to call her ‘Baby Gia’ due to the resemblance between the two.
I believe Janice Dickinson was called “baby Gia”.
Janice’s modeling career pre-dates Gia’s.
As Marie said, Janice’s career pre-dates Gia’s; she was never called Baby Gia. The term ‘first supermodel’ is used to describe both, though.
Crawford herself has talked of being compared to Gia and mentioned how it boosted her career. When she started out, she was introduced to the photographers who loved Gia as ‘the new Gia’ or ‘baby Gia.’
There is some overlap in the timeline between Janice & Gia, so I can understand the mix-up. Janice returned from Paris, a success just as Gia was starting out in NYC.
And they both share the same gorgeous features. Well, all 3 ladies, actually
Yes — there is a resemblance between all three 🙂
Perplexed,
I never got Crawford’s appeal either. Again, to each their own.
Kaia is cute, but looks like Rachel Bilson – who always read as ‘sweetheart’ rather than ‘model’.
I thought the same thing when I saw Kaia, that she looked a lot like actress Rachel Bilson. Also, I always thought Kendall Jenner was very similar in looks to singer/actress Katherine McPhee.
This is what out me off the arts in general. Celebrities endorse everything from their children to Clothing. Inherited wealth and status is too much for us peasants to compete with.
This is the second post today about ‘legacies’ working in fashion at young and very young ages. Is there any point for models that don’t have famous parents to even bother with castings?
How many of the ‘supermodels’ like Cindy Crawford would have existed if the fashion industry had applied this policy back then?
The more Kaia looks like Cindy, the less Cindy looks like Cindy.
That pretty much says it all. Doesn’t Cindy Crawford also hawk some kind of beauty line? She also has a cheesy line of furniture at Rooms to Go. Maybe Kaia will be featured as the face of Rooms to Go (smirk). Doubtful.
Yup, she does have some connections to beauty products but I’ve always seen Cindy as one of the few truly natural beauties in her world. Now It seems the work she’s had done to stave off the aging process is actually dimming her beauty and making her look like someone else.
Had to look it up as I thought it was Bare Minerals but it’s called Meaningful Beauty and it’s her own beauty line.
Yeah, I agree.
I have to admit I lost a lot of respect for Cindy Crawford when she tried to deny that her stomach wasn’t perfectly flat. Remember that whole scandal? She even went as far as to accuse the photographer of “manipulating the image.” There are tons of pictures of her available on Google with a saggy stomach before she ran out and had it fixed when it became a talking point. I feel like she became obsessed with trying to be young and perfect from that point and went on to have a ton of work done.
I might be one of the few people out there who thinks this but I think Kaia looks more like her father. Carbon Copy Cindy, I think not!
I agree that she looks like her dad more, her eyes are set more like his, but she does have cindy’s coloring.
Yeah…
Maybe Cindy’s trying to relive her glory days through her daughter?
What’s sad is that in one of the above pictures–and in nearly every picture I’ve seen of the two of them–Cindy is posing so hard….
She’s probably very happy that her daughter’s making such a splash, but it also must be really difficult for her to see her own beauty change with age (and surgical intervention). I always wonder how incredibly beautiful women deal with their fading looks.
Cindy looks like Janice Dickenson. Several facelifts before her current face. So sad. She was stunning when she was younger. Kaia does look like her mom.
I get confused sometimes between Kaitlyn Jenner and Cindy. Think Cindy was Kaitlyn’s inspiration.
Cindy was valedictorian, she was admitted to a prestigious University and even if she dropped out she managed to become a very intelligent and business savvy woman.
Not many scandals in her life and managed to have a long career in modeling so…. why wouldn’t she want her daughter to have a proper education, have a normal life and let Kaia just be a 14 year old girl with a modeling dream that could become reality at least after high school?
I don’t get it.
I don’t get it either. Ugh.
I saw this coming. Cindy is pretty tight with PMK.
yep. For all her faults, Gigi Hadid was 18 when she became a thing/started trying out high-fashion modelling. 15 is way too young.
Gigi Hadid started with Baby Guess, quit to go to school (a good thing) and then began again.
Not only that she majored in chemistry. So she is obviously bright. Not sure about her kids.
It feels playful? Well, Kaia, at 15, makeup SHOULD feel playful. Because a 15 year old should just be playing with it, not hawking it professionally.
ha ha this comment is golden!
She Is pretty but not model material. I find those mother-teendaughter twinning photos creepy.
I agree. It’s creepy in general and that particular pose is more…creepy. “Here let me mouth breathe next to you, mom. We will look so hot.” Gross.
That’s a good point.
I’m very uncomfortable looking at that photo. My gut is telling me it’s wrong.
It looks a bit too adult and sexy for a 15 year-old…
Yes, me too. I’m so sick of this trend where teenagers are styled like 30-year-olds and 30-year-olds like teenagers. It’s a perverse way of infantilising women and sexualising children.
Putting her next to her daughter emphasizes how odd Cindy’s face has become… Too much Botox.
Yeah…the modeling industry is the last place of want my 15 year old given the stories about the exploitive practices and outright sexual abuse, but she’s the daughter of a celebrity, so I suppose she’s better protected than the nobodies they use and discard from places like Eastern Europe. Still makes me uncomfortable as hell.
She’s pretty but way too young for this contract. She should be modeling teenage clothes or even makeup specifically aimed at younger people.
What’s with this trend of kids of celebrities becoming models? It used be one here or there but now it’s everybody.
I agree. I think it is ridiculous. Not that everyone is destined for college, but I feel like this is a huge cop out from real life experiences. I always laugh when they complain how difficult it is. Please do not insult the rest of us who have real jobs.
Nepotism! And yeah, Kaia is a bad model. She has no IT-factor, that her mother used to have. She is so awkward, empty and being pushed by mom’s past career won’t help her to evolutionate.
It feels odd for Marc Jacobs Beauty to be using her after having Winona Ryder and Jessica Lange as models in the past.
Right?!? Well I think Marc Jacobs is buddies with Cindy from back on the early 90s. At least I think I remember seeing him on MTV House of Style with her 🙂
Mark Jacobs gave Kendall Jenner her first big runway gig, so this is completely unsurprising. He turned me off after the Kendall thing – it seemed like cheap publicity for a respected designer. But now, with Kaia, it’s pretty clear that he doesn’t care what generation X thinks. I’m no longer his target customer, which is fine. I’ve been thinking of him as a kids brand for a while now anyway. The genius who revived Louis Vuitton has long gone.
I find the whole thing yukky. Fifteen years old? I don’t care how attractive she is, there is something very sad about that. Who are they marketing cosmetics to? Eighth and ninth graders?
I’m pretty sure Marc Jacobs was the first major brand that let Kendall model for it, and now Kaia is the face of his makeup line… Nepotism is not how you make your products interesting Marc lmao
Oops! I didn’t see your comment – I said something similar above. Sorry!
….I wont talk about Kaia cos she’s a minor…but Cindy’s face is morphing into Julianne Moore or Jessica Lange or anyone of a number of that age…especially around the eyes…& looks a million years away from her 15 yo daughter …no matter how similar their hair color n make-up seems…
She looks so young. She reminds me of the girl who played Jeff Daniels’ long lost daughter in Dumb and Dumber To.
Meh, I don’t know that she’ll get any more crap for this than the Smith kids. Yes, they’re all too young and that’s annoying and troubling. Willow and Jaden also drive me crazy with their bonkers psychobabble, but that has nothing to do with race.
This. A lot of the grief to the smith kids is because they’re annoying AF. Willow I don’t mind but jaden drives me bananas. Special snowflake: hipster scientologist edition/mastering the not stoned stoned tweets
Exactly. It’s horrible but Jaden gives me the same ‘want to smack him’ feeling that Bieber gives me. It’s that crinkled forehead/raised eyebrows derpy look that seems popular with some men of that generation. And I feel horrible because he’s a kid. :/ I think they both bug with some of their statements but they do have some charisma that others lack. Willow I think really is stunning and has a different look from others–she certainly not cookie cutter bland. Great bone structure and beautiful skin. I always thought she looked more like Will but somehow the features that you’d think would look ‘off’ transferred to a female work very well on her–plus I think that bone structure comes from Jada. Kaia I think is really lovely but she looks older than she is–though not in a fake way like Kylie Jenner, just a more mature look. But she lacks the ‘it’ factor that her mother had. The face is there but a pretty face doesn’t a model make.
Cindy has been pushing this girl as soon as her age hit double digits.
If there is a difference from the Smith kids, it seems to me it would be because their parents weren’t supermodels while that’s the legacy Cindy has to pass on to Kaia. And is very determined to do. Ugh.
I recall she put her on the runway in bikinis when she was 12 or 13..? It seems to be the gateway to celeb status they choose for their children because it requires no education or training or particular talent..it’s one of the the entitlements of fame now.
Ah, wouldn’t be celebitchy if you didn’t add the unnecessary race angle.
HaHa
She didn’t lie, tho.
True story.
Very true. Went ‘wtf’ when I read that, seemed to come completely out of left field to me.
I, too, am not tickled at companies using children to sell. Sure, they’re very pretty, but there’s nothing there. There’s no life experience, there’s no education, there’s nothing. And creepier still is how much sex they try to instill in the ads. Listen, I know fifteen year olds are well into their own sexual development, but I don’t like anything that attempts to commodify the burgeoning sexuality of a teenager, or anything that links teens to sex for adults. It’s creepy and gross.
But I’m also not much of a Marc Jacobs makeup fan.
Way too young, I agree. She is beautiful, but that doesn;t mean she HAS to be a model – I hope she got given proper options.
Oh and #WangSquad for Marvel is just perfect 😀
I wish she waited until the kid was 17/18. She gorgeous but let a kid be a kid.
She’s a dead ringer for her mother but nepotism!! There is a new generation of ‘model’ who only have careers because of who Mommy and Daddy are or know. At least with the Smith kids they are interesting and there seems to be more to them than Miss ‘i’m obsessed with beauty products’.
I don’t find the Smith kids interesting at all and have you read or head the Smith kids talk? Sorry, what you see is what you get with them there is no depth there.
That statement that Kaia told Allure is so damn Stepford Wives. I hate what the modeling industry represents and how it hurts women so I am dosappointed but in no way shocked.
Marc Jacobs products are mostly crud anyway.
They use Kaia to appeal to the teens, just what Estee Lauder did with Kendall Jenner. I guess, that is where the big bucks are coming from. You appeal to (pre-)teenagers and might build a longlasting realionship there. Women in their 30’s and up usually have a brand they prefer or at least they might not be so experimental. I can only speak for myself, but I’m not following make-up trends. I know what works for me and stay there. If Marc Jacobs is selling metallic turqoius eyeshadow, I’m not going to buy it.
Otherwise, yip – nepotism. Kaia is very pretty in my opinion. But since she has a famous mother, her name and face are already known and it gives Marc Jacobs press just by using Kaia as the face of his brand.
Also: no way I would have taken a picture with my mother trying to look sexy (tilted head, open mouth). Why is there a need for a 15 year old to look sexy?
Agreed, I know what works for me and stick with it. I have experimented occasionally with skin products but it usually turns out disappointing, irritating to my skin and expensive.
I don’t care how pretty she is: nepotism is obvious nepotism. She needs to be in school, not strutting her stuff on the catwalk.
I’m sick and tired of these ‘daughter/son/relative of.. ‘ to become models/actresses and such with little to zero talent or hard work. Of course Kaia is a pretty young girl, but this is mostly the work of nepotism.
I don’t want to be mean but she doesn’t have any special feature about her, except she’s the daughter of Cindy Crawford and she looks like her.
These models are getting younger & younger. Why would i buy products especially beauty & fashion from an image of young girls who aren’t even fully developed yet? Baby skin & skinny bodies.
I know, right?? I am a slight makeup/skincare addict (have spent $1000s just this years probably – lol) in my late 20s (so prime real estate here), and no no no! I’m not interested in being sold anything by a 15 year-old! Seriously.
At least Kylie Jenner looks sort-of my age, lol.
Cindy is probably one of my top 5 favorite models, however, I’ve been side-eyeing her as a mom ever since she posted pictures of Kaia years ago with a tramp stamp on her back side.
She should get the same crap that the Smith kids did. It’s creepy and inappropriate for literal children to be selling beauty products.
And I actually loved Jaden’s campaign. I think he’s cuckoo but also pretty cool.
Forget about her! I want to see her super handsome brother!
Exactly! I think he is gorgeous and looks like a younger Cindy with blonde hair.
She’s pretty, but I find it creepy and sad that teenagers are used to sell aspirational beauty/fashion products for adults.
The Smiths have a higher profile and bring more attention to the brand, I suppose. I hope Kaia (and the Smiths, for that matter) have someone to keep them safe.
It cracks me up when young teens are used to sell skin care/makeup…their youth alone makes them lovely. A 15 year old girl doesn’t need ten pounds of makeup. Yuck…
I’m surprised Cindy’s son isn’t getting more attention. He’s older, I think 18 & looks more striking than his sister imo.
He’s obvs more sensible too.
Her son got a modeling contract acts 16 she’s been pushing them to be models since they were little.
I think the reason why her daughter gets more attention is because of all the twin pictures and photoshoots they do.
That first picture is giving me a baby Brooke Shields “prettybabynothingcomesbetweenmeandmyCalvinKleins” feeling.
I hear that, and great reference. Unlike Cindy, Brooke was kinda shoved into modeling and acting by her mom. Also unlike Cindy, it seems that Brooke is not shoving her daughters into modeling.
Can’t blame her for her parents’s irresponsibility. She’s a lovely girl, though, for sure. I just hope she’ll be okay.
Nepotism Gerber. With the Jenner girl, the Baldwin girl, Depp’s daughter, Uma Thurman’s kid and now this one… do regular girls without celebrity connections have a chance in hell?
Not a chance. The rest have to be really really lucky and look like an actual model to begin with. Most of these celeb kids are just pretty or average looking short youngsters with too much makeup and photographic artistry trying to make them look like (awkward) young adults.
Yeah, but they need the Instagram/Snapchat followers to get there first.
I read last week that fashion designers received a lot of backlash for having models in their shows who appeared to be anorexic. And in order to combat that, they’ve started hiring more teenagers, so that no one will body shame those girls. I suspect we’ll see even more of it to come.
Wasn’t Cindy Crawford about to start a degree in engineering before she became a full time model? That is a good foundation. Why in the world didn’t she think to pass this on to her children?
I don’t see much difference in letting a teenager model and letting them get involved in sports like.There are coaches who are emotionally and verbally abusive.There are coaches who are sexual predators.I never hear people say Simone Biles or the other gymnasts or swimmers,etc parents should have let their daughter have a “normal” life rather than training 8 hours a day ,five or six days a week for years.Moving to another state and living with another family while they train.Restricting their diets,injuries,etc is this a normal childhood?
Sure, because training in a sport is exactly like taking up a profession that’s entirely dependent on your looks and near-totally unregulated.
I didn’t say they were EXACTLY alike so try again.I have personally more horror stories of people being abused by athletic coaches than photographers or modeling agents.
Breaking news? Really? And I love they have to use an image of her mother, and her name, so people will know who this kid is.
She kind of looks like Brooke Shields in that top photo.
She looks very young. Some models look older even when they’re just 15, but she doesn’t necessarily.
It must suck to have Cindy Crawford as your mother and then not really be as striking as she once was.
That said, Kaia is very pretty, it’s just that she’s always inevitably going to be compared to her mother, but I get that she wants to be like mommy and prove herself on her own. I say good luck cuz really, I suspect no one is ever going to be like Cindy Crawford. My god that woman was just gorgeous and unforgettable in her heyday.
Cindy was older when we saw her at her most striking and beautiful.
Maybe Kaia isn’t that striking yet because she’s only 15. She could wind up looking prettier when she’s 22 (as most people are prone to becoming). At 15, she isn’t going through that awkward stage that the rest of us did (probably also helped by make-up and fashion advice from her mother). I suspect she’ll be prettier when she’s older.
Nonetheless, I don’t get Cindy’s fixation on modelling for her daughter. It’d be funny if the daughter rebelled and decided she wanted to go to medical school instead. I wonder how Cindy would react…
Yeah but the point is… life shouldn’t be just about looks.
It is nepotism. But then she has to pay for it by having Cindy as her mother. Cindy seems so shallow.
I think Kaia is beautiful. The only thing is most of the models that have been brought to fame via nepotism can’t model. They have the same wooden expression and don’t inspire me to buy what they’re selling. I know they want to appeal to a younger demographic but I find them boring.
Maybe someone with more time and Google fu powers this morning can look it up but does anyone else remember something about about some risqué, bondage-type IIRC photos of Cindy’s daughter that got out when the daughter was much younger? That’s the first thing I thought of when I saw this posting.
Cheap publicity. Ugh.
I think this girl is beautiful and would probably make it as a model regardless of her mother. I have seen her in interviews and she is very striking. She’s still young. ..by 21 this girl will be drop dead gorgeous.
It irritates the heck out of me that they have 15 year olds modeling clothing, shoes and maekup targeted to business women. Why have a teen model a line that teens can’t afford and isn’t even in their repertoire? Makes no sense.
It’s amazingly ugh.
Nepotism aside, weren’t a lot of the early supermodels discovered/signed at very young ages? Everyone’s saying “she’s a child” and “it’s gross,” which may be true but, it’s nothing new and not specific to her being Cindy Crawford’s daughter.
I remember Milla Jovovich was modeling at 12. I’m around the same age as her and I saw her in magazines at the time and was entranced by her. I wished I looked like her. I thought it was cool that she was a model who was around my age. So maybe they are appealing to the young teens by signing girls that young.
As a side note, if I were Kaia I’d use my mom’s last name as my “stage name” because “Kaia Crawford” sounds more like a supermodel name than “Kaia Gerber.”
Yeah, I think most models started out very young.
I vaguely remember Paulina Porizkova explaining that the reason for this is because the light in photography hits young skin differently (whatever that means). She explained this on the Tyra Banks show. The clip could be up somewhere on Youtube.
ITA
Kimora Lee Simmons was 14 when she was modeling for Chanel in Paris.
It really bothers me to see young girls all glammed up for adult targeted campaigns. It’s as disgusting as people who parade their kids around in those glitz beauty pageants.
There’s a line in an old AbFab episode about ‘chucking foetuses down the catwalk.’ This was about 20 years ago. How prophetic.
Adults (18) should be modeling clothes for adults. Simples.
I have no idea what this author means by writing that Kaia will not get “half the sh*t” Willow does for being a high end brand name model. Seems this author is actively hunting for racism, everywhere. Oh well—Personally I find Willow to be lovely, much prettier and more striking than Cindy’s very average and underwhelming looking 15 year old.
Linda Evangelista was everything in her day. Any hair colour short long she was amazing looking and stunning in person. Marc Marc I want to shake him by the shoulders. My friend does his fashion PR so will need to have a word at Thanksgiving.
Yuk this is Cindy pushing her daughter to help herself stay relevant. You could see years back she was being groomed. Pretty yes, but so dull. When she started hanging out with Kendall you knew her time had come. While I find it hard to stomach the Smith kids, Willow seems to have a spark these girls don’t have.
the modelling industry for the most part is a cover for pedophilia and prostitution..in related news google Diana Jenkins, Room 23 book and yep Ms. Crawford is in a couple few pictures..so she knows exactly what the industry is about and going to do with her daughter..and people who say “if she knows why would she subject her daughter to it” ..that would be you assuming mom has a choice in the matter… nope she does not..
I heard about that book years ago when I worked in Hollywood in PR. Apparently, it’s “use” is known to many outside of the industry. I was shocked to see so many successful celebs in it. I can’t believe Cindy is pushing her daughter into the modeling world, especially at such a young age, knowing what she does. Maybe she thinks nothing bad will happen to Kaia because she is Cindy Crawford’s daughter. Fool! I also agree she is using Kaia to stay relevant. I find the whole thing pathetic and sick.
Her son is more beautiful and striking than the daughter. He doesn’t need nepotism if anyone wants him.
ITA
This girl should be in high school, then university. Stop pulling a Polanski modelling industry. It is so disgusting!
A 15 year old shouldn’t be the face of anything, except maybe ProActive.
She is a beautiful, adorable little girl….and I just wish she would wait until 18 or so. She will still be gorgeous and I think she’s just going to be even more striking as she ages. Just think how much my own face changed from 15 until 21 was so much! Model and go to college at the same time, girl. Next thing you know she will be giving weird statements about what it means to be a feminist and it will be alllll wrong!!!
Ewwww. I want to see makeup that works on a woman 30, 40,50, 60,,70 plus…. That’s the true test of a good product…..
I have to agree, I hate looking at fashion & beauty magazines anymore because of the ads using super-young models to sell things to older women. It’s insulting and sickening. Some of them don’t look older than 13 or 14. You know they’re not wearing haute couture, heavy makeup and high heels in real life. I am sooo tired of pedophilia in fashion & film and so appalled at the disrespect and reviling that most older women are met with.
She would never be a model were it not for her mom, plain and simple. And I personally am not attracted to any brand with a 15-year-old spokes-face, but I guess they’ll tie up the 12-year-old set.
I’m sorry this is a little off topic this being about nepotism which is sickening. I’m done with this teenagers selling adult products to adults. Now they are hiring teenagers to avoid body shaming comments. I’m not buying another thing to the best of my ability, no more calvin klein, marc jacobs, micheal kors etc. Shopping at ann taylor for work not sure what i’m going to for work out and very casual but I have the internet I’ll find something.From now on for moisturizer and face cream aveeno and loreal. Jennifer Aniston may be irritating to me but at least she’s an adult in the age range of women who use it same with Deane Keaton love of Woody Allen aside. Buying Lauren Huttons make up. Canceling magazine subscriptions and telling them why. The ridiculous body images and the vile and probably illegal things behind the scenes. I think I’m definitely going to email them and thank them for disgusting me. I’ll be able to retire sooner as result of the money I’ll be saving. I apologize for the off topic rant but I’m just done with the beauty and fashion industries. The singular body type they glorify which basically mind f***s most girls and some women. Their all but complete exclusion of woc an additional subtle mind f***.I can’t be the only one who has to remind myself professional hair, makeup, lighting, photoshop and some lying about diet, exercise, eight hours of sleep, eight glasses of water and no I have had no work done. They may consider themselves artistic and creative enterprises but even they have a bottom line and I will not contribute to it any more. I was trying to avoid buying sweat shop produced items. This just needs to stop. These two industries really are just horrible for too many reasons to count anymore.
I hear you, Frankie! It’s really sickening to see, where the fashion industry is leading now.
Yah adult lines should use adult models. 18 and older please. Sheesh.
So far this girl hasn’t opened her mouth and spewed out ridiculous shit. She doesn’t have the misfortune of having parents who were attached to Scientology and raised on it, thus she is not parroting scientology beliefs. It’s not really an apt comparison. I’m sure if she starts tweeting weird teenage bullshit about physics and philosophy then she’ll get the same vitriol.
They’re all teenagers who have been boosted through nepotism.
All I see when I look at Kaia is a younger version of Rachel Bilson .
Totally!
it would be nice if “celebrities” would push education, volunteering ect..
here is another example of a celeb spawn.. entitlement..
big deal.. yes she is a pretty girl….
how about a celebrity being proud of their school grades?
just another example of being born pretty… she is lucky that is all…
Another vacuous, self-absorbed non-entity who is absolutely useless for the world just like her mother: greedy for money and fame. Just having a look at Cindy’s creepy look (and the face full of botox -is that beauty?!) on the sec. photo tells enough. She is freaking out loosing the only thing she believed into – her empty shell……now is the time to face the paycheck from the nature. That is why she is desperately sticking to her daughter -to be in the spotlight and feed her huge ego. Pathetic. People have to realize that these outer “beautiful” shells are pure deception: they can never build their inner beauty and wisdom because they are too busy parading around and craving for attention. Kaia actually had no chance with such mother who sold her for fame and money to paedo… fashion industry.
The hands doing the makeup are the most interesting part of the photos. Working hands are more beautiful than the nth pretty face.
What I find interesting is the photo is meant to be a special Mother/Daughter moment and Cindy isn’t even touching Kaia with her hand.
She’s got the face of a child and it looks wrong to be that made up. Marc Jacobs Beauty…you couldn’t wait a couple of years for this one?