We wager that sweaty palms and shifty gazes are a dime a dozen in the fashion industry this week, as news has broken that the parents of 15-year-old model Hailey Clauson are suing Urban Outfitters and photographer Jason Lee Parry for using the model’s likeness on a t-shirt, ‘posed in a blatantly salacious manner.’ (See Below) As The Daily Mail reports, ‘The image of Teen in a spread eagle position making her crotch area the focal point of the image may portray a child in a sexually suggestive manner and may be in violation of one or more federal and/or state laws.’ Additionally, the suit claims that the photographer did not own the rights to license the image for use on a shirt to begin with. Hardly a newbie despite her age, Clauson has been the face of Gucci and DSquared, walked in prestigious shows such as Ferre, Dolce & Gabbana, and DVF, and been featured in editorials for the likes of Vogue Italia and Numéro.
I can’t help but slap my forehead at all of this, for two reasons:
1. Fashion insiders may act shocked now, but it is NO SECRET WHATSOEVER how young high fashion models often are, and until there is a gun to someone’s wallet, it is just another day in the industry. Even CFDA president Diane Von Furstenberg, for whom Clauson walked in February of this year, is passing the age buck, “disgusted” with casting directors for placing such a young girl in her show. Right.
2. While it is fully within her parents rights to take legal action against the photographer and UO’s portrayal of a minor, where were they exactly when/after these pictures (Below) were taken, before 2009? MEANING CLAUSON WAS EVEN YOUNGER THEN?
Clauson’s FashionSpot thread is rife with comments such as “she is really sexy for a 14 year old girl” and “those lips- Wow” dating back to 2009, and her parents had no idea what sort of images were being taken of their daughter before Urban Outfitters’ deep pockets were involved? While I am certainly not excusing the photographer or brand- and her parents are fully within their rights to take legal action, particularly where licensing issues are concerned- it frankly makes me sick that this comes as a “shock” to ANYONE, including dear old Mom and Dad.
With all this going on, I can only wonder how 15-year-old Hailey Clauson feels. Was her own outrage the catalyst for the suit? Or (and this is my leaning, admittedly uninformed of her feelings) is she currently hiding in her room, hating her parents for turning this into the issue we are reading about now, having wrongly or not been desensitized to this sort of portrayal years earlier?
Images: Itsy Bitsy Steps, TFS
