Young children are brand aware
Children as young as five are obsessed with wearing the ‘right’ labels and logos, a new study has found.
And it is this increasing desire among children for certain fashion brands – especially sportswear – that played out in the recent UK riots.
The research, by sociologists, was conducted before the wave of looting and violence swept Britain this summer.
But it confirmed suspicions that growing consumerism helped to fuel much of the theft and rioting by children as young as ten, who targeted trendy stores such as Topshop, Footlocker and JD Sports.
[See also: UK children trapped in materialistic culture]
Led by the University of Leicester’s Dr Jane Pilcher, the study examined children aged between five and 12 and found that even the very young had a great deal of knowledge about the fashion retail industry and knew exactly which shops would sell the kind of clothing they wanted.
The findings also point the finger at parents for helping to fuel that label obsession – with “family culture” playing a strong role in the value children place on brands and logos.
Individual case studies showed how children who came from families where designer names were valued constantly name-dropped about the brands of their clothes. Children from families where brand names were of little importance, however, struggled to understand what many of the popular fashion names and terms meant.
Dr Pilcher agrees there are justifiable worries about children’s growing obsession with fashion, and how childhood is changing as society becomes increasingly dominated by celebrity culture and consumerism.
Children who do not participate in the fashion obsession can become isolated from their peers – a fact she cautions teachers should bear in mind when setting school uniform policy.
But she insists it is not all doom and gloom. Parental intervention is a successful tool in stopping young children from turning into fashion-obsessed tweens too early.
While parents may give in to pester power and buy clothes they don’t necessarily approve of, they can place “heavy restrictions” on where that item of clothing can be worn.
“For instance, the child might only be allowed to wear a glittery off-the-shoulder top in the safe, monitored environment of the school disco and not anywhere else,” she says.
Dr Pilcher also notes that, though many children look up to celebrities, they do not always approve of their fashion choices.
For example, many young girls did not admire the skimpy designs worn by pop stars such as Rihanna or Beyonce, believing it “rude” to show too much bare skin.
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