Face of the future

Thylane Blondeau arrives at the premiere of Nelyubov during the 2017 Cannes Film Festival in May. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Thylane Blondeau－'the most beautiful girl in the world'－is becoming an influential person of her generation. Bethan Holt reports in London.

It would be reasonable to expect that the pinnacle of your career might come at some point in midlife. Spare a thought, then, for Thylane Blondeau, who was labeled "the most beautiful girl in the world" at the age of just 6.

While most little girls her age were playing with their dolls, the world was mesmerized by Blondeau's gorgeous blue eyes, plump lips and caramel blonde hair. And when she appeared on the cover of a Vogue Paris supplement, at 10 years old, she attracted global attention.

Now, six years on, little Thylane is all grown-up. Well, she's 16 and recently took her place on the front row at Michael Kors' New York fashion week show, alongside A-listers.

Already a catwalk veteran, she offered up her best pout for the photographers, subscribing to the Victoria Beckham "fashion stole my smile" school-of-thought, whereby you decline to appear happy, because it looks "daft".

Anyway, given that Blondeau is a nonchalant French teen with 1.5 million Instagram followers, we can assume that the seeming lack of enthusiasm is an exercise in personal branding.

Not content to rest on her laurels, Blondeau is busy carving out a name for herself－not only as a model, but as an "influencer". On her 16th birthday in April, cosmetics company L'Oreal announced her as their youngest global spokesperson, calling her an "icon-inthe-making".

Blondeau has tapped into her early fame to develop a profile which is about much more than being a great beauty.

Blondeau is the daughter of French soccer player Patrick Blondeau and his former wife Veronika Loubry, a TV presenter.