Mini skirts, backless shirts, crop tops, heels… For children. A big no-no has popped up in China Fashion land this July: Naila or “hot kids” style. The controversial trend has, rightfully and luckily so, now sparked significant concerns about the sexualization of minors. Temper decodes the debate.
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奶辣风(nǎi là fēng| literally “milky and spicy style” or just “hot kids style” in Chinese) is a trending “style” tag, for lack of better wording, on Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, Alibaba’s online shopping Walhalla, which promotes microskirts, backless shirts and crop tops for children (well, girls) as young as four or five. The trend has, rightfully and luckily so, now sparked significant concerns about the sexualization of minors.
Many Chinese experts have already warned that the inappropriateness associated with this trend may negatively affect a child’s well-being.
The style, which features little girls dressed in miniskirts, crop tops, off-the-shoulder tops and backless dresses, became the topic of heated debate around mid-July across multiple leading media outlets and subsequently roused public outrage.
奶辣风(nǎi là fēng| literally “milky and spicy style” or just “hot kids style” in Chinese) is a trending “style” tag on Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, Alibaba’s online shopping Walhalla, which promotes microskirts, backless shirts and crop tops for children (well, girls) as young as four or five. Image: Screenshot from Taobao
More naila style for preteens as seen on Taobao. We, unlike the platform, will not show the girls’ faces.
Super popular lifestyle slash e-commerce app 小红书 (xiǎohóngshū| Little Red Book (LRB)) has been flooded with short videos denouncing the naila style and calling on parents not to dress their offspring in such “far from appropriate clothing.”
Just Say “No!”
Chinese state media articles and netizen comments alike have recently expressed their strong disapproval of naila style becoming a buzzword for children’s clothing online, while videos criticizing this “fashion” have raised fundamental questions about whether it is a matter of minors being free to choose what they wear or a deeply concerning moral issue.
According to daily newspaper Beijing Evening News on July 20, children who grow up dressing like adults “may likely develop premature sexual behaviors,” these experts said. Therefore, to better protect minors from negative influences, e-commerce platforms should invest more energy into screening and removing inappropriate content. Meanwhile, designers working in the children’s apparel sector should always prioritize the comfort of children and refrain from blindly copying adult fashion styles.
On many popular e-commerce platforms, such as Taobao, naila-style garments for little girls are also listed under 甜苦 (tián kǔ | sweet yet cool), a trend targeting 20-something women. Here’s an example of the tianku dress code as seen on LRB
While some argue that young kids should be free to choose what they wear, most people are concerned about the trend’s possible sexualization of minors. Some have even denounced the style as child pornography. Experts have also cautioned against the negative impact that the trend may have on children’s psychological well-being.
One op-ed written by a child psychologist, published on the People’s Daily Online on July 17, read that e-commerce platforms in recent years have been using “adult ‘dress codes'” as a marketing gimmick for the children’s clothing segment. The expert added that using “that typical young desire to play grown-up” to sell clothing should never be condoned. “Minors must never ever be sexualized, full stop,” the op-ed stated.
Super popular lifestyle slash e-commerce app 小红书 (xiǎohóngshū| Little Red Book) has been flooded with short videos denouncing the naila style and calling on parents not to dress their offspring in such “far from appropriate garb.”
On many popular e-commerce platforms, naila-style garments for little girls are also listed under 辣妹 (làmèi | spicy or hot chick), another trend targeting 20-something women. Here’s an example of the lamei dress code as seen on Taobao
Adult Dress Code
On many popular e-commerce platforms, such as Taobao, these garments for little girls are also listed under the 甜苦 (tián kǔ | sweet yet cool) and 辣妹 (làmèi | spicy or hot chick) hashtags, styles which generally target 20-something women. Tianku is a style that came into being under the influence of K-pop in the past seven or so years, so we’re talking mini skirts and crop tops worn with a more cutesy, girly vibe, whereas lamei has been around for roughly a decade, mostly based on the more va-va-voom American Y2K styles (aka from the early aughts)–i.e. mini skirts, low-waisted jeans and velour track suit bottoms, crop tops, etc. Both styles also, ehm, shall we say, “imply” a “rather slim” body.
Some fans have said the lamei style is all about attitude, because the “hotness” isn’t just about looks; its flaunters know what they want and aren’t afraid to give you a piece of their mind–making them spicy. That’s all fine and dandy but we at Temper still believe it’s just about giving off a hot, “if you got it, flaunt it” vibe. #nolayerstopeel
Clothing for young girls has become increasing sexualized around the world in the past decade or so. With girls’ clothing possessing sexualizing characteristics, many American and European psychologists, too, have long warned this trend can encourage girls to view themselves as sexual objects at an early age. Plus, preteen girls who dress in sexualized clothing are judged as less competent than kids in age-appropriate garb, many related studies have uncovered over the years. FYI: The majority of sexualized clothes still features childlike characteristics, such as polka dots or cute floral patterns. In sum: childish but still sexualizing.
Either way, call us conservative, but would you let your 4-year-old daughter out of the house dressed like a lamei?
We, for one, would not.
Fashion for thought.
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Perpetually in pursuit of the greater good that is “China Fashion”, van Paridon set up The China Temper to help promote the dynamite dynamic fashion scene sprouting within Beijing, Shanghai, and China overall. Catering to anybody and everybody who reads English and/or Chinese, Temper covers all the basics and bases. From China's street style scenery to its budding photographers, internationally renowned designers, and underground quirks plus phenomena: We present one hot-hip-happening current collective weaving The New "Made in China" tag.
The term “Made in China” is undergoing the ultimate 21st Century makeover. Escorted by the increasingly strong influence of a new thinking among China’s younger generations, regarding individuality and the expression thereof, the fashion scene in the Middle Kingdom is exploding. And stretches far beyond what meets the eye. It’s appliqué, one might say.
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