Sixties fashion icon Twiggy reportedly wants to see a ban on models under the age of 16, saying young girls too often fall prey to unscrupulous operators in the industry.
“I absolutely support a ban on young girls being professional models,” said Twiggy, who created a sensation as a doe-eyed teen in a miniskirt more than 30 years ago.
In an interview with the London Telegraph, Twiggy — who started modeling at 16 — said the industry has become “much seedier” since her day. She added that girls under 16 have no place there.
She said she was “shocked” by a BBC exposé last year that showed young models being plied with drugs and propositioned for sex by executives or other staffers at modeling agencies.
“It’s appalling that these awful people can do whatever they want to and have such control over them,” Twiggy, 50, told the Telegraph.
“The girls you have to watch out for are the young girls who are very pretty but, at the same time, are very vulnerable.
“It wouldn’t happen to the likes of Claudia Schiffer or Kate Moss,” she said.
“Anything that’s worth the billions that the fashion industry is worth has to be corrupt. Sadly, money breeds corruption.”