A Brief History of Naked Babies in Fashion Magazines
Last week, Kim Kardashian delighted the nation when she told Seth Meyers that North West peed on Kanye during their Vogue family portrait — revealing one of the messier realities of having a diaperless little person on a fashion set.
Though detractors maintain that unclothed babies make for distasteful props, magazine editors have had few qualms about throwing a small nude human in the mix. It’s a bizarre trope, especially as many models seem fairly inept when it comes to holding these babies. In a 2003 issue of Vogue, Natalia Vodianova dangles her son, Lucas, over a regulation-size swimming pool; on the cover of Vogue Spain in 2011, Dree Hemingway holds an anonymous, frigid-looking infant by its feet. Fortunately for the photographers, including a baby’s face has long proven optional, which explains the prevalence of the genre’s sub-category: baby butts in fashion editorials. From Mischa Barton holding an infant like it’s a large bouquet of flowers to Kate Upton swathing a toddler in tulle: Click through our slideshow for a brief history of naked babies in fashion magazines.
