10-year-old model's pics spark controversy

Highly sexualised pictures of a 10-year-old model in a French magazine have infuriated campaigners, who think that a child so young should not be displaying the sexual allure of someone twice her age. The provocative images of Thylane Lena-Rose Blondeau, who is tipped as the next big thing on the fashion scene, show her reclining among leopard print pillows, her rouged lips pouting at the camera, and complete with heavy make-up and stiletto heels.

Blondeau, daughter of actress and television presenter, Veronika Loubry, and the former French international football player Patrick Blondeau, has already appeared in numerous campaigns.

She has graced the cover of Vogue Enfants and posed for high-end editorials.

Born in the Ivory Coast, she has already been compared to Sixties siren Brigitte Bardot - who at the age of 15 appeared in ELLE.

But these latest images, which appear in French magazine Cadeaux, have brought the issue to a head.

“We have grave concerns about the modelling agency who represent Blondeau, which clearly does not know if it represents a child or an adult,” the Daily Mail quoted a spokesperson for Mothers’ Union as saying.

“Photo shoots requiring her, a 10-year-old-girl, to dress in full make-up, teetering heels and a dress with a cleavage cut to the waist across her pre-pubescent body deny Blondeau the right to be the child she is.