Must Read: The Fashion Industry Should Stop Working with Underage Models, Why Luxury Brands Participate in the Grey Market

Sofia Mechetner, 14 at the time, walking in Dior's Fall 2015 couture shoe. Photo: Photo by Catwalking/Getty Images
These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Thursday.
The fashion industry should stop working with underage models
In a new piece for Vogue, Maya Singer explores how the fashion world became so reliant on the labor of teenagers — and how models became disposable objects. In speaking with a handful of leggy runway icons, designers and casting directors, she proves that committing to an 18 or older modeling standard would have an immensely positive impact on the industry. {Vogue}
Why luxury brands participate in the grey market
Luxury brands routinely inflate sales figures by allowing product to be sold via unofficial channels — otherwise known as the grey market — where it's then sold at a discount. Even though this practice boosts revenue for brands, it is largely kept under wraps because they want to maintain their luxury reputation. {Business of Fashion}
60 times Madonna impacted pop culture
The New York Times is celebrating Madonna's 60th birthday by recalling 60 times that the iconic pop star changed our culture. From introducing us to the Gaultier cone bra to oozing sex appeal at every age, see how her career has obliterated the stats quo. {The New York Times}
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Pete Davidson on his engagement to Ariana Grande and becoming an overnight style star
GQ captured a bleach-blond Pete Davidson in Burberry and brightly colored wares in New York City for its September issue. To accompany the images, the streetwear enthusiast sat down with Allie Jones to discuss life as a 24-year-old comedian whose whirlwind romance and engagement to pop star Ariana Grande has given him unprecedented fame — and a pretty nice $16 million apartment to crash in. {GQ}
The struggles of Black fashion photographers
Tyler Mitchell made history this month as the first Black photographer to ever shoot the cover of Vogue, but it took 126 years for this to happen and Beyoncé more than likely had much to do with it. Though the industry seems to be recognizing Black talent behind (and in-front of) the camera, there's yet to be a Black Annie Leibovitz, so Dazed spoke to four Black fashion photographers on the struggles of making it. {Dazed}
Jewelry brands are making luxury straws
The day has come for jewelry brands to make artisanal straws, fabricated of gold with retail values of a few hundred bucks. Both Tiffany & Co. and Miansai have introduced the fancy drinking tubes following the sweeping plastic straw bans for those who want to sip in style and save the environment. We highly recommend saving up for one if you can't deal with cardboard. {WWD}
Nicki Minaj covers Vogue Arabia's September issue
Vogue Arabia's September issue stars Nicki Minaj, who has returned to the spotlight with the release of her fourth album appropriately titled "Queen" after a four-year hiatus. An all-female team, which included renowned photographer Emma Summerton, stylist Anna Katsanis and Vogue Arabia fashion director Katie Trotter, was behind the striking black-and-white cover (below). {Vogue Arabia}