These models all started their careers at a very young age (some were aged 13 or 14), and say they wish they had more time to mature bef...
These models all started their careers at a very young age (some were aged 13 or 14), and say they wish they had more time to mature before their work took over their lives. Some advise that young models shouldn't start work until they are 18, while Ruby Aldridge says that young models should make sure to complete their studies before they hit the catwalk, and Coco Rocha thinks that young teen models aren't wise enough to start modeling yet.
Ana Beatriz Barros
Ana Beatriz says she was too young starting out, and says that being older can benefit your career: "I was way too young. I was a baby. I think people should wait until girls are 18 maybe, I think first they should go to school and then study as much as you can. I think 16 to begin with is too young, today you cannot sell a cream for the women in their forties with a 15-year-old."
Carré Otis
Carré Otis had a rough time as a young model - she developed an eating disorder and abused drugs, and in her recent memoir recounted the story of how she was raped. allegedly by her agent (read it here). She believes that no young girl is ready to become a model: “I don't think any young girl should be put in that situation. Period. It's kind of like, would you let a 13 or 14 year old drive a car? You know! You're not ready. I don't want to put that image out to young women, that they have to look like a prepubescent girl. It's really ridiculous. I knew that I was creating an unrealistic image.”
Coco Rocha
Coco Rocha says it is too early for a young girl to begin behaving like an adult: "You're taking them out of high school and putting them in an industry that is treating them like adults - and they don't know how to deal with that, they're thinking about, 'how can I please you? It doesn't matter what I have to do, how can I please you?' If we were probably older, wiser, there wouldn't be as many problems - there would still be problems, but not as many."
Karlie Kloss
Karlie Kloss began modelling aged 13, and says she is happy that you have to be at least 16 to begin on the catwalk at New York Fashion Week now: "I'm an old lady at 19, I think it's great. Because I started when I was 15, there's no doubt there are lots of things that I wish, um, you know, I dunno — I wish I would have been a little more mature. A little older. Because there's a lot. This career, there's a lot you have to handle and it's somewhat difficult when you're thrown into it and you don't really know what to do."
Ruby Aldridge
Ruby Aldridge wishes she hadn't left school at such a young age to pursue her career: "I left school — I graduated early, when I was 16 years old. I had to put in so much work in order to graduate early. I should have stayed in school, sixteen is even so young, you know? You get pushed into this world and it’s so fast paced, and it's very adult, and you want to fit in, so it's hard. Those years are important. Then again, 18 sounds — not old, when I say it, but I’m thinking of models and most of them are much younger than 18."
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