By Hilary George-Parkin, Styleite
Dannielynn Birkhead is an undeniably adorable kid.
Now, however, she’s set to be a professionally adorable kid, as one of the faces of the GUESS? kids Spring 2013 campaign. This would be the end of the story, were it not for her mother Anna Nicole Smith‘s legendary history with the brand.
“Dannielynn has the same playful spirit that her mother had on a set,” Paul Marciano, Creative Director for GUESS?, Inc says in a press release. “She is a second-generation GUESS girl, which makes this campaign a first for us.”
But while we want to see the ads as just a cute kid having fun in front of a camera, we can’t help but be reminded of the numerous family tragedies that the association digs up. After all, Birkhead was born a mere three days after her elder half-brother Daniel Smith’s sudden death in the Bahamas, and just a few short months before her mother died of an accidental overdose at the age of 39, before which she was the subject of a messy custody and paternity battle.
Usually seeing a child follow in their parent’s footsteps makes for a heartwarming story, but in this case — specifically, the tragic path Anna Nicole Smith’s footsteps ultimately went down — the whole thing feels a little off.
What do you think? Is Dannielynn too young to follow in her mother’s Guess model footsteps? Or should she be free to model without being cast in her mother’s shadow? Tell us in the comments below!
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