The Kiddie Couturiers

On Wednesday, in an article titled “The Kiddie Couturiers,” the NY Times wrote about children who had started their own fashion line. Yes, that’s right. They may not have reached puberty, but they have reached the fashion world. Of course I had to look more into this.

The most established "kiddie couturier" mentioned was Cecilia Cassini who, at the ripe age of 10, launched her own label.

photo credit: LA Times

Cecilia's creations retailing for $146 and $86 respectively.

Then there was Grant Mower, a 12 year-old who this past October won a design competition in Dallas, Texas.

Grant and the design that won him the competition
photo credit: ndfw.com

Other "kiddie couturiers" mentioned included Madison Waldrop and, of course, Lourdes Leon.

Is our welcoming this new lot of designers proof of society's progression, or society's regression? I'm no hater and these kids are definitely cute, and definitely have some talent. And hey, if my parents had taken my propensity to cut up my clothes and sew them into other forms a gigantic leap one step further and offered to help launch my own clothing line, well, I wouldn't have objected. But I have to wonder. These kids have entered the fashion world with energy and natural born inspiration but, with few years, not much else. Will they stand up to the inevitable test of time? Will all those crazy hormones gearing up to take over their bodies afflict their creative juice? Or vice versa?

All this made me think of a talk I recently watched on TED in which Elizabeth Gilbert of “Eat, Pray, Love” spoke about her fear that at 40 she had already achieved her biggest accomplishment. “Now what?” she said. She went on to talk about others in creative fields who have perished under the pressure of trying to produce something better than their previous creation. All of a sudden I feel really bad for these kids.

We are always told that, with years, we will “figure it out” as who we are and what we will achieve is a process. So when the fashion industry is willing to serve up the final product without much of that process, the result is glitz without much substance.

On the other hand, just think of the benefits. Perhaps, contrary to what we have been taught, we do have it figured out in childhood. Things would be so much simpler if we didn't have, ya know, all those life experiences to muddle things up.



Yup, that’s it, I’m not voting for anyone over 13 in 2012.

Uh oh, it appears the Republicans already have a candidate that fits that bill:

Hmmm.....