Fashion Week, models ID card check for age

Recent Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) guidelines update strongly encourages to verify that models are at least 16 years old at the day of a show. Candidates should present a valid, government issued id card proving the age.
The fashion industry was recently shocked by $28M lawsuit against Urban Outfitters. 15 years old model parents sue the clothing retailer for a photo of her daughter, Hailey Clauson, perched open-legged on top of a motorcycle photo which is currently featured on one of the clothes maker product.
Model agencies already posted some feedback complaining that it’s easy to get a fake ID and a lot of models are coming from foreign countires which makes it difficult to verify age and identity.
But is it really? We actually do not think it is. As the aftermath of 9/11 terrorist attacks national identification documents security was significantly improved. Majority of countries now have biometric featured passports. On the top of that most post Soviet Union countries citizens are required to apply for US visa in order to visit United States. US visas are now biometric documents as well with photo and finger print information encoded during visa application processing at a consular office outside of the US. I can understand someone saying it’s easy to get a fake id of a local school to get a drink in a bar but forging a passport or US visa is not only a felony but also a very difficult task due to high security features. Question remains if model agents should also be expert on documents authenticity. Verifying foreign passport or US visa authenticity is not harder than verifying a dollar bill. Sure it might require some basic training or even help from the State Department or foreign embassies but saying there is no way to verify person age seems like evasion of the problem

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