Marc Jacobs Used Underage Models for Fashion Week, Despite Age Limit

Marc Jacobs New York Fashion Week models underage?

Marc Jacobs Ignores Age Limit for Fashion Week Models

Fashion knows no age limits -- in Marc Jacobs' world, anyway.

Despite an age limit for runway models, Jacobs ignored the rule and used 14-year-old models to show his 2012 fall collection at Monday's New York Fashion Week show.

14-year-old Ford models Thairine Garcia and Ondria Hardin were used in the show, even though the Council of Fashion Designers for America (CFDA) suggested a 16-year-old age limit.

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Jacobs is actually on the board of CFDA and tells the New York Times, "I do the show the way I think it should be, and not the way somebody tells me it should be."

In other words, he's not listening to anyone, especially considering he has the models' parents sign off on it.

He explains, "If their parents are willing to let them do a show, I don't see any reason that it should be me who tells them that they can't."

Jacobs points to child actors and young models for catalogs and print ads, noting that if the parents give the okay, it should be fine.

Ford released a statement Wednesday that read, "While we agree with many of the guidelines the CFDA is working towards, we did not sign on with this particular initiative."

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They added, "We take the age and maturity of our models very seriously. We work on a case-by-case basis alongside a prospective model's parents to make a determination as to whether they are ready to walk the runway. In most cases, the answer is no. But a select few demonstrate the know-how and maturity that are necessary to work earlier than they otherwise would."

What do you think of Jacobs' decision to use models under age 16? Should there be age limits in place to protect models?

In other Marc Jacobs news, the designs he showcased at Fashion Week are fugly.