School girl catwalks in bikini at Los Angeles Fashion Week

For Los Angeles Fashion Week, swimsuit designer Ashley Paige had a model in a bikini who looked about 10 years old. She was the only child in the group, and appeared with adult models who were in bikinis themselves. Most obviously, this did not go over well.

The Hollywood-based Ashley Paige says of her designs: "I think the women who like my stuff...exude sexuality."

This was not a showcase of clothes for kids. This is a little girl prancing around a runway with flashing bulbs in a string bikini along side adult women exuding sexuality. What on earth was Ms. Paige thinking?

The source of this post is the Daily Mail from the UK, and what is interesting to me is the 28 comments from the readers on this particular article. While most agreed that the bikini clad girl was tasteless, there was a notable amount of comments that essentially said, "What's the big deal? Little girls wear bikinis on the beach all the time."

The bigger issue is why can't kids just be kids as long as they can. There is something very inappropriate about girls in 3rd/4th grade in bikinis on runways. Why are we stripping little girls of their innocence so young when they will have decades to wear makeup, high heels, and skimpy clothes? This is exactly how beauty and body isues start.