Blame Kim Kardashian: Anna Wintour Wants Children Banned From New York Fashion Week & They Should Be.

According to a report by Radar Online, Anna Wintour, a fashion legend made it known that she thinks children don’t belong at New York Fashion Week. “Anna doesn’t think fashion shows are appropriate for very young children such as North West. The loud music, the lights from the show, along with flashes from all of the cameras, and of course, all of the people is just overwhelming to a toddler. Anna never would have brought her now-adult children to fashion shows when they were young.” says an insider. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are no strangers to criticism and this past week has been no different. Though talk usually centers around what they did or what they’re wearing or not wearing, this time it focused on their parenting skills. During NYFW Kim twice sat front row with daughter North West (once at Kanye’s Adidas debut, the other at Alexander Wang) and the one-year-old went into full on tantrum mode. She served stiff legs, almost falling on the ground, get me out of here realness and it was all caught on camera for the world to see.

Children attending NYFW is nothing new, we’ve seen celebrities such as Victoria Beckham, Kimora Lee Simmons and Jennifer Lopez all attend shows with their little ones. But this was the first time we’ve ever seen a mini meltdown like this, which raises the question do children belong at fashion week? I am a mom to an energetic, sweet, opinionated, feisty two-year-old girl. We go shopping, to the movies and even to lunch on occasion. I don’t always have a babysitter, so she goes where I go or I just don’t go. Would I bring her with me to a fashion show? I thought about this a lot this week and there was a point when she was small and I considered carrying her with me while I attended a presentation or two, but I never did. Fashion shows are crowded and loud, and did I say crowded? I know my child; she’d see those flashbulbs and hear that loud music and North West’s tantrum would look amateurish in comparison.
Children at this age are discovering their emotions and experiencing different environments often for the very first time. Temperaments can change from happy to apprehensive at the drop of a hat and as parents it’s our job to make sure that our children are emotionally protected.
At the Adidas show, Kim took baby North backstage once she saw her getting upset, like any mom would do. But after that first tantrum, why they would take her to another show is just beyond my comprehension. Yes, she looked adorable in her custom Wang wears, but maybe at this age fashion shows just aren’t her thing?
The first time I took my daughter to a children’s movie, I was nervous with a capital “N.” What if she became fussy? What if she started to cry? What if she gets scared? Worries that I’m sure many parents have when going out with their children. All of my worries were for naught because she was fine, but if any of those scenarios played out, you better believe we would have packed up and left.
There’s the argument that we want our children to experience art and culture as early in life as possible and in the case of Mr. West’s Adidas fashion show, to see us doing the things we love. Beyonce has her daughter Blue Ivy at many of her performances and I think it sets an ambitious precedent at a young age for a child to see their parent living their dreams out loud, literally. You still have to consider your child first.
What’s the harm in waiting until they are a little older to take them with you to fashion week if you know they might not be able to handle the chaos? There will be other opportunities for your child to experience art and culture. You will have more accomplishments for them to see and be influenced by in your lifetime, in a time they can actually appreciate it, so leave them off the front row until they are ready. Anna Wintour will thank you for it.
What do you think? Do children have a place at the front row?
Caprece Cotton-Sturdivant is a writer and mommy, who loves to share comedic tales of what she’s learned so far about being a mom. Her writing has appeared on HelloBeautiful.com and Uptown Magazine’s website where she is a digital contributor. In 2015 she plans to self publish her first book based on her popular Instagram posts “Things I’ve learned Since Becoming a Mom”. She resides in New York City with her husband and daughter who are her inspirations.