By ninemsn staff
Gold Coast Fashion Week is under fire after choosing a 12-year-old girl as the face of the event.
The new fashion festival is being accused of child exploitation over the choice of year-8 schoolgirl Maddison Gabriel.
The selection comes after 15-year-old schoolgirl Claire Quick was dumped as the face of Melbourne Fashion Week due to similar community outrage.
Maddison's mother has defended her role in the fashion festival, but academic Dr Karen Brooks was one of many appalled by the selection yesterday.
"Oh my god, that's outrageous," Dr Brooks told the Herald Sun.
"When is society going to let kids be kids instead of catapulting them into the adult world? It's exploitation. We're talking about a girl who hasn't long stopped playing with dolls."
Maddison, who studies at Hillcrest Christian College on the Gold Coast, was awarded the position at Titanium bar in Surfers Paradise on Wednesday night.
"I'm stoked that I won — modelling is all I've wanted to do since I was six," Maddison said yesterday.
"I don't think I'm too young — 12-year-olds should be able to model. The people there thought I was a bit older, like their age. I'd really like to be an international model."
Her selection follows a statement by the British Fashion Council reccommending a crackdown on underage modelling ahead of this year's London Fashion Week.
Several fashion festivals in Europe have already banned models under 16 years.
Maddison's mother Michelle Gabriel said he daughter was mature for her age, and will turn 13 this weekend.
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