A French lingerie designer has hit back at criticism over her use of “unsettling styling” to promote lingerie targeted at girls as young as four years old.
The Daily Mail reports that Sophie Morin of the Jours Après Lunes label has responded to a furore over promotional photos showing girls in make-up and with voluminous hairstyles wearing panties, bras, camisoles and T-shirts from the range.
Morin is reported as saying that she is “extremely surprised by the current uproar” over the lingerie for four to 12-year-olds.
Industry commentators argued that the underwear, which features striped bras and frilled panties, was “entirely inappropriate”.
Fashionista.com, the fashion site which broke the story, said: “What’s disturbing about Jours Après Lunes is... that it’s lingerie for people who probably shouldn’t be old enough to even know what lingerie is.”
In a letter to Fashionista.com, Morin defends her choice of embellished underwear designs: “All I wanted to do was offer underwear that is soft and pleasant to wear... that is suited [to] their age, and that wasn’t an extension of women’s labels, which are often vulgar,” writes the designer.
“The materials…have no vulgar connotation: they are totally opaque, nothing transparent. The style is inspired by children’s fashion, with spots, bows, etc.”
The Daily Mail notes that it is the art direction of the photos - featuring young girls in poses and styling that seem far too premature for their ages - that caused the most controversy. Wearing bras and panties, they play with make-up and jewellery, strings of pearls wrapped around their small frames. In one shot, a girl wears Jackie O-style sunglasses while lounging back on a pillow, her modesty protected by just panties and a cropped polka-dot tied top.
Morin is adamant that the shoot's styling was nothing but innocent:
“All the photos show children playing children’s games, as we’ve all done. If you look at the details, you’ll often find elements of children’s games: dolls accessories, wooden animals etc,” she wrote in the email.
“A second reading is needed – no vulgar connotation. There is only one interpretation: children playing together, no more.”
In another photo, three young girls play together, their hair set in Amy Winehouse-style beehives and their lips painted bright pinks and reds.
“The children aren’t wearing high heels nor nail polish nor lipstick. The hairdos are over the top, but so are children’s games. Yes, the models wear sunglasses, like every single kid. Yes, you see their stomachs and legs, like you do on the beach. Yes they wear necklaces inside the house, as do all little girls for fun,” writes Morin.
She notes that all of the girls are professional models and suggests that double standards may be at work:
“You’ll often see children’s productions inspired by the theme of cowboys and Indians—does this make children future criminals?”
Referring to the French habit of placing adult magazines on sale in full view, she says: “It is time to worry about serious problems, such as pornographic magazine exposed in kiosks on a daily basis, for every child to look at.”
She adds: “I’d also like to remind you that in France, the term ‘lingerie’ refers to the entire field of underwear, including men, women and children. This term alone doesn’t have a sexy connotation.” - IOL