The brutal economics of celebrity culture is turning children into marketing mannequins

theguardian.com:

The events of this week provoke much introspection about hereditary privilege, inherited power and our culture’s strange default to aristocracy. By which I mean, there appeared a stunning article in the Wall Street Journal announcing that the young children of pop celebrities are acquiring their own fashion stylists.

The 10-year-old daughter of Kourtney Kardashian; her nine-year-old cousin, the daughter of Kim Kardashian and rapper Kanye West; Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s 10-year-old girl and the five-year-old daughter of tennis champion Serena Williams are named in the article.

There are also the children of NBA and NFL stars, pop stars, movie actors and a mysterious father who fronted a stylist with a “lookbook” he wanted his daughter to emulate, even though she hadn’t yet been born.

Fees are charged by the stylists, but not revealed by those interviewed. They’re also happy to list – if not discuss – their famous junior clients on their websites, citing “client confidentiality”. Discretion is the better part of market appeal, one presumes – especially if one’s livelihood is to preemptivelyclothe … a foetus.

Those of us who remember our childhood years making mud pies and cubby houses may question the rationale of letting a four-year-old loose with a $3,300 handbag – yes, this is an actual thing – even if her dad did co-design it for Dior. Poorly sized hand-me-downs and the rough polyester of Best & Less couture don’t compete in any way with Ralph-Lauren-for-tinytots, but if you’re climbing trees, covering your best friend in paint or redecorating a room with cake mix, they’re economical clothing choices.

No doubt, if you’re worth near a quarter-of-a-billion dollars, like Serena Williams is, budgeting for post-food fight replacement