The sports category has moved to a new website.

Brand goes into space led by model aged 15

Discovered on Instagram the high school volleyball player from Alabama has the potential to be a catwalk star.

Models present creations by Chanel during the women's Fall-Winter 2017-2018 ready-to-wear collection fashion show at the Grand Palais in Paris

With the fashion world shaken by the row over the alleged mistreatment of scores of models at a "cattle call" casting for Balenciaga, Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld denied that the athletic American teenager Cara Taylor was too young to be on the runway.

"No that is ridiculous," he told AFP. "Kate Moss and Naomi (Campbell) all started at 12, 13, 14.

"They come with their mothers. In my studios there are no drugs and no one jumps on them," the 83-year-old veteran added.

ADVERTISEMENT

Last week US casting director James Scully hit out at top fashion labels for using underage models.

In his Instagram post which revealed how models were left to wait for hours in a staircase for the Balenciaga casting, he claimed "another big house is trying to sneak 15-year-olds into Paris.

"It's inconceivable to me that people have no regard for human decency or the lives and feelings of these girls, especially when too too many of these models are under the age of 18 and clearly not equipped to be here," Scully added.

Taylor also featured in the Dior show last week.

Discovered on Instagram, Taylor, a high school volleyball player from Alabama, has the potential to be a catwalk star, Lagerfeld declared.

ADVERTISEMENT

'She is something'

He used her for his Milan show for Fendi last month, where she also walked for Versace and Valentino.

"She has something," said the creator known as the Kaiser for his mastery of the fashion scene.

"Fifteen is young. For photos she has to learn a bit yet because she is not used to it. She is a young girl."

New York fashion week asks that models should be at least 16 to take part in its shows, while a similar gentleman's agreement exists in London.

ADVERTISEMENT

No such restrictions exists in Paris or Milan.

Taylor, however, already appeared in a Alexander Wang show in New York in September.

Lagerfeld said Taylor's androgynous frame "is the modern physique. It is like that today, the aggressive sexiness we leave to others," he added in a swipe at Saint Laurent, which has sparked fury over an ad campaign which campaigners condemned Monday as "sexist" and "degrading".

Feminist activists protested outside one of the Saint Laurent's Paris boutiques Tuesday.

The head of the French advertising standards authority had earlier told AFP that the campaign -- which features a reclining women in a fur coat with her legs apart and another bending over a stool -- was a "serious breach" of its rules.

ADVERTISEMENT

Barbarella boots

Saint Laurent used Taylor briefly in a suggestive video to launch its previous collection, when its new designer Anthony Vaccarello began sexing up the label.

Taylor is not the youngest model ever to lead out a top Paris catwalk show. The Israeli model Sofia Mechetner, who was 14 at the time, was the star of a Dior haute couture show two years ago.

Nor was Taylor the youngest person on the Chanel catwalk for its spectacular show, which featured a 37-metre (120-foot) space rocket as its centrepiece.

Lagerfeld's eight-year-old godson Hudson Kroenig -- already a catwalk veteran -- was among 90 models featured in the show, which ended with the PVC rocket lifting off 10 metres in a cloud of dry ice towards the roof of the Grand Palais.

ADVERTISEMENT

With models in the bouffant hairdos of 1960s sci-fi heroine Barbarella and glittery silver boots, the designer mixed street styles and space motifs with Chanel's classic looks.

Under their dresses, some models wore crepe de chine Bermuda shorts edged in tweed, which as well as being perfect for space travel, Lagerfeld said were also ideal "for riding a bicycle".

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: news@pulselive.co.ke

Recommended articles

10 Sex Positions for Super-Deep Penetration

10 Sex Positions for Super-Deep Penetration

What It Feels Like to Use a Butt Plug While Masturbating

What It Feels Like to Use a Butt Plug While Masturbating

11 Ways Men Can Make Their Orgasms Even Better

11 Ways Men Can Make Their Orgasms Even Better

Understanding delay rings, how they work & safety measures when using them

Understanding delay rings, how they work & safety measures when using them

Ex-cop Linda Okello acquires 2nd lavish home in the U.S.

Ex-cop Linda Okello acquires 2nd lavish home in the U.S.

10 essential parenting tips all first-time fathers should know

10 essential parenting tips all first-time fathers should know

15 Foods That Help Improve Erections

15 Foods That Help Improve Erections

10 unique ideas to gifting car enthusiasts on their special days

10 unique ideas to gifting car enthusiasts on their special days

10 important things to consider before getting a fire extinguisher

10 important things to consider before getting a fire extinguisher

ADVERTISEMENT