A fashion photographer snapped a sleazy picture of a controversial teen model — when she was just 15 — that wound up on T-shirts sold by Urban Outfitters and other retailers, a $28 million lawsuit charges.
Southern California girl Hailey Clauson — who has worked in New York and Paris for designers including Gucci, Donna Karan and Oscar de la Renta — claims the “blatantly salacious” shot has damaged her reputation and may even violate kiddie-porn laws.
The image shows the 5-foot-11, blond, underage stunner sitting backward astride a motorcycle in what court papers call a “spread eagle position.”
The Manhattan federal court filing accuses photographer Jason Lee Parry of making “her crotch area the focal point of the image,” adding that he also styled it to show “what some observers believe to be pubic hair.”
The portrayal “forces” Clauson, now 16, “to be the object of prurient interests and provides wallpaper for the likes of pedophiles,” her suit says.
The suit says Parry — who specializes in topless shots — agreed never to release it after Clauson’s then-agent from Ford Models complained.
But the picture was later published by the German magazine Qvest.
Clauson’s suit also accuses Parry of cutting a deal with a Los Angeles boutique called Blood Is The New Black to sell T-shirts featuring the image — and another of Clauson holding a partial six-pack of Budweiser beer — at its Sunset Strip store.
In addition to Parry and Blood Is The New Black, the suit targets Urban Outfitters and the Brandy & Melville store on Spring Street in SoHo.
Parry, 32, insisted that the girl’s parents were present during the March 2010 photo shoot and gave him permission to publish the pictures.
Mom Bethany Clauson declined comment.
Parry also said, “The images got stole from me” and slapped onto T-shirts after they were posted on a number of blogs.
Blood Is The New Black owner Mitra Khayyam said all the shirts in question had been pulled from her store’s shelves.
Neither Urban Outfitters nor Brandy & Melville returned requests for comment.