A buyer takes a photo of an outfit worn by a child model at a fashion show for buyers in a children’s clothing store

The children’s apparel market is growing faster than any other clothing sector in China and was worth more than $40.5bn (£33bn) in 2018, according to Euromonitor. This, combined with the rise of “kidfluencers” sponsored by brands to promote products on social media, is spurring greater demand for young models across the country – but experts warn of the heavy cost of pursuing such deals.

A child model on the red carpet

Children are taught deportment at a modelling school (left) and a young model has makeup applied at a contest

A parent advises her daughter as she waits to take the stage at a child model contest

“If children don’t listen to the parents, then I think hitting them is quite standard,” Lee Ku, the founder of Le Show Stars modelling school, told AFP. A video of a mother kicking her three-year-old daughter in fury at her failure to comply during a modelling job went viral earlier this year, causing outrage online. And footage emerged in early August online of a young boy modelling thick winter clothes outside as temperatures soared to 37C, also drawing heavy online criticism.

Children are taught and train at Le Show Stars modelling school

But in an industry where minors can earn 10,000 yuan (£1,200) a session, Lee says the clip is the tip of the iceberg and, from his experience, such violent behaviour from parents is not unusual on shoots. Child models sometimes go through more than 100 outfit changes in a session, often working from morning till night. But mental health experts warn it is not just physical exhaustion they have to contend with – there may be long-term emotional implications.

“Children from the age of zero to six are mentally developing, they need a lot of exploration and freedom,” explained child psychologist Gong Xueping. “At work, the child model will deliberately show a lot of different expressions ... but this is contrary to the child’s own feelings of the moment. This limits the development of both emotional abilities and more complex psychological abilities for children, so I think it’s a very bad choice,” Gong added.

A child model waits her turn before taking the stage at a contest

A child poses for the judges

But there remains no shortage of parents interested in pushing their children into the profession. Founded three years ago, Le Show Stars was one of the first modelling schools in Beijing, where customers pay up to £95 for a private one-on-one lesson.

Four-year-old twins Yumi and Yuki Xiao are not yet professional models, but for nearly two years they have been taking classes teaching them how to pose and pace the catwalk, in the hopes that they can break into the industry.

“For some catwalking competitions, they have to be in the makeup room by 6am,” their father, Xiao Liang, said. “The real competition starts at 2pm, and they finish around 3pm or 4. So the whole thing takes a whole day. From 6am to 6pm – 12 hours is pretty standard.” Their parents invest in taking them around the country to compete in hundreds of national child modelling competitions.

A child wears makeup at a contest for models

Child models Yumi, left, and Yuki Xiao prepare to take the stage

“It’s a lot of fun, I like being on stage,” insisted Yumi.

Like many other parents, Xiao says he initially enrolled the two in child modelling to build their self-confidence, but after Yumi and Yuki showed interest they started to invest more time and money into building a possible child modelling career path for them. Occasionally the twins are paid to model seasonal fashion lines for big brands. “I think they are one of a kind – firstly, they’re twins, and they’re also boy-girl twins,” Xiao says. “They also like it, which is why we are giving them this opportunity. I think they have a natural advantage over other kids,” he added.

Xiao and his wife, Bai Yu, said they were aware of the potential pitfalls of the profession and any decision to pursue a modelling career would be up to their son and daughter. He said: “If they study well and they are interested in the prospect [of being a model], then I am sure to be 100% supportive, as long as they are willing to spend their energy in this area.”

China’s child labour laws are complicated and parents of underage models are sometimes paid in secret to sidestep the red tape required to employ them. Responding to the kicking video, the authorities in Hangzhou, where the incident took place, introduced regulations to limit the hours children work and ban children under 10 from being brand spokespeople. But many feel that authorities are doing too little to protect children from exploitation.

Children wait in line