Kaia Gerber did a leather & lace themed editorial for Vogue Japan: too much or fine?

Kaia vogue japan

Kaia Gerber turns 19 years old in September. She’s a Virgo, a teenager and an in-demand model. I’m not surprised to see her on the cover of Vogue Japan, arguably one of the coolest of Vogue’s foreign editions. What I am surprised by is seeing the movement to “sex up” Kaia’s image. It bugs, right? Kaia still has that baby face, she’s only 18 years old, and Vogue Japan did a “leather and lace” themed cover editorial with her. Is it too much?

What sort of kills me is that Kaia could have had the franchise on “wholesome” branding. With her babyface and youthful aura, her mom Cindy Crawford could have pushed Kaia into the kind of modeling Cindy did for much of her career: sexy, but girl-next-door, blue-jeans Americana. Yes, Cindy did leather-themed editorials and yes, Cindy posed for Playboy and all of that. But not when she was 18! It just feels like everyone in fashion was counting down the days until Kaia’s 18th birthday so they could do these kinds of shoots.

Also: there continue to be rumors about how Kaia is possibly dating Cara Delevingne.

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Cover courtesy of Vogue Japan, IG courtesy of Kaia Gerber.

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42 Responses to “Kaia Gerber did a leather & lace themed editorial for Vogue Japan: too much or fine?”

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  1. Yvette says:

    Love this editorial! I think Kaia really has ‘IT’ … just like her mother. I hope she has a long and satisfying modeling career. 🙂

    People forget that many models start young–15, and 16. I don’t see anything wrong with her doing a sexual photo editorial at 18 as it is the legal age of consent.

  2. FHMom says:

    I’m more disturbed by how they make her up to look like her mom. She isn’t Cindy’s mini me. And yet that is the look they go for.

  3. Eliza says:

    The more 80s they style her, the more it shows she is not the model her mom was. Let her have her own look and style.

    • escondista says:

      Agreed. The more they do this, the more it seems like she will just forever live in her mom’s shadow. we know she is 100% lucky and privileged but many people are not happy to be compared to a parent or sibling or friend for their entire life and career.

    • Chaine says:

      Exactly, it’s Cindy cosplay. Looks like a tween playing dress-up.

    • Balloonsarebadfortheenvironment says:

      I honestly don’t think she’s that good of a model and it’s nothing personal; you either have it or not. She’s far more waif-like than her mother, who was that ’80/’90s cusp Amazonian style with bigger shoulders. Also she’s totally dating Cara.

  4. LeaTheFrench says:

    She’s very photogenic but yeah, the picture with the corset is a bit much, I would say.

  5. Snowslow says:

    She is certainly not as childish as we all assume here and from what I remember at her age I was a sexual being in touch with my needs. She is alone (not like Kate Moss on the infamous CK ad) and she looks relaxed – as opposed to photos in previous years. She certainly started young – I find it awful how young models still are – but now it seems more ok.
    In terms of images, these do seems a bit backward, very eighties. That’s what I don’t like. She is hanging out with Delevigne and others, she could choose editorials more in tune with a contemporary feel.

  6. Jalene says:

    She needs to stop. She’s not really a good model.. Nepotism at it’s finest

  7. hereforit says:

    The entire modeling industry feels boring, dated, and gross to me. The industry parades coltish teens down runways as physical ideals and waits with bated breath to sexualize an 18-year-old as soon as the clock strikes midnight. The rigid adherence to white supremacist, patriarchal beauty standards – prioritizing youth, thinness and whiteness above all else – just feels boring and archaic. I am not interested. Sorry. Do better. We have enough issues with (real, not Pizzagate) human trafficking and child exploitation. It is not interesting, titillating or financially compelling to me to see any woman (let alone a near child) in pasties anymore, particularly when she is not the creative force behind it and it does not drive any greater discussion of women’s roles and power in society (see e.g. WAP). This is just sex for the sake of the male gaze and it’s dull.

    • El says:

      Couldn’t agree more. Every time they are pushed to do better, they do the bare minimum to pretend to change, and then go right back to the same old.

    • Lizzie says:

      Nothing is a bigger turn of for me than seeing a teenager promote something. Not interested in a magazine, make-up or clothes worn by teens.

    • bee says:

      Well said @hereforit! Agree with every word – it’s boring, To quote Madge: it’s reductive.

    • Jules says:

      So true, all of this. It’s trying to shock but it’s so transparent. And the end goal is just to make money, it is soulless.

    • ItReallyIsYou,NotMe says:

      Yesss!!!

    • Sarah says:

      I wasn’t going to explain it as well as you do but I came here to make the same point. Super slender, super young, white woman, dressed up to look ‘sexy’. Yawn and it just feels very dated here in 2020.

    • Faye G says:

      Amen! Modeling industry = huge yawn fest. There are so many more interesting things going on in the world.

    • Sarah says:

      Exactly. It’s so BORING. There are so many people of all ages and sizes that are interesting AF to be photographing. Enough with starved white teenagers.

    • AL says:

      I totally agree with you and I’m so happy to see other comments in that sense.

    • BountyHunter says:

      I think I just fell in love with you. Your ideology at least. 🖤

  8. Ann says:

    I think she looks stunning in these pictures. They look very much like a throwback to her mother, but it doesn’t bother me. She looks like her mother who has had a long career, basically any shoot she does will seem like a throwback. I think she has real talent as a model, much more so than many of the other nepotism models.

    • Otaku fairy says:

      This. Just the fact that a young woman can’t dress or do a photoshoot like this without people using rape or other sex crimes as a reason why women shouldn’t be doing this tells you we still have a long way to go. She looks good.

  9. lunchcoma says:

    I don’t think the sexiness of the shoot is a problem. There are plenty of models without famous parents doing shoots like that at 19.

    I do think it’s cheesy that they slapped a pound of makeup on her attempting to make her look like her mother. She looks better when she’s not trying to duplicate someone else.

  10. Lavande says:

    I mean I wouldn’t wear it or get those tattoos but it all works well together beautiful lady with a perfect hair cut . Straight Dark hair and slim body fits well for a Japanese audience.

  11. Mrs. Peel says:

    She looks amazing!

  12. CTAYLOR says:

    The bad photoshop on her arm in the top picture is what jumps out at me … otherwise – she’s lovely and 18 … to each his own

  13. Lovemydmb says:

    They did this to britney spears before she was even 18. It’s not new unfortunately.

  14. Geeena says:

    She’s a legal adult so it’s fine. Looks a bit like what she wore to her 18th bday. High fashion puts underage models in lingerie, implied nudity, sexually connotative shoots all the time, and Japan has a very sketchy record when it comes to young models. Like really, really young, 11-14 in some stories I’ve heard and read, and really questionable shoots I’ve seen.

    The question is why is this a question about the model with the famous parents but not the dozens of other teen models who can’t afford to turn down jobs?

  15. Pauline says:

    Amazing! She’s stunning and talented. Love this shoot!

  16. HatchetFace says:

    I find this shoot ugly and tacky, I think so much of the fashion and glamour industries are just stuck in the 1980-90s like ostriches with their heads buried in the sane. I think the pandemic is the nail in the coffin for the fashion industry as we know it, and good riddance!

  17. clairej says:

    Not into Kaia really. Hate the push they are driving that she is Cindy 2.0. Nup. These photos are probably the best I have seen, well I like the cover picture. Still think she is better on the catwalk. Give me Fran Summers, Adut Alech any day.

  18. Veronica S. says:

    It would disturb me more if she was under 18, but at least they waited until she was a physical adult. Mental adult is another story, but she’s probably better protected than most in her industry.

    She is stunning, I’ll give her that. I’d kill to have legs that long.

  19. L4frimaire says:

    I really like these photos, mostly because of the 80s nostalgia vibe. She definitely resembles both her Gia Carangi and her mother ( baby Gia) in the photos. She usually looks so blank. The hard edgy look works on her.