Abbey Clancy defends daughter Sophia’s modelling debut at age 8

Abbey Clancy has preempted criticism of her daughter Sophia’s first modelling campaign at the age of eight.

The duo appear side by side in Clancy’s latest campaign for fashion brand Lipsy, with Sophia dressed in her own special line of clothing for girls aged five to 14, which the model, 33, has co-designed.

The star said that Sophia’s starring role in the shoot was not a “serious career launch” but “a special memory with [her] daughter.”

Joined by Sophia, her eldest child, on Thursday’s Lorraine, Clancy was quizzed by host Lorraine Kelly over whether “people will say that [Sophia] is too young” to model.

“I know that but I just think there’s so much bad stuff going on in the world, any excuse to have a bit of fun and make a special memory with your daughter,” she responded.

Adding that she would “never push” her daughter into following in her footsteps, she told the presenter that Sophia “really wanted” to join her on the shoot, which she described as “a great day.”

“Having four children, trying to spread my time equally between the four is hard,” she continued. “I really appreciated having a special day with Sophia and some gorgeous pics to put on the wall.”

She said that she wanted her daughter to follow her passions and interests, telling Kelly: “You’ve got to do what you love and do what you enjoy.

“She might think she wants to be a model today. Then she might want to be a vet or a pop star or a doctor.”

“It was just a bit of fun, it’s not a serious career launch,” she added. “It was just a lovely day, it could be a one off, it was just a nice experience.”

In a statement released to coincide with the collection launch, Clancy said that she wanted her daughter’s clothing line to feel “appropriate, fun and girly.”

“Sophia’s styles are not replicas of my own; I just don’t feel this would have worked,” she said. “As a mum I wouldn’t feel comfortable with my daughters wearing exactly what I do, just mini versions.

“I’ve worked closely with the design team at Lipsy to ensure we take elements of my collection, be it colourways, prints or design details and incorporated that onto a style that’s age appropriate, fun and girl for Sophia’s range.”

Clancy shares four children with her former footballer husband Peter Crouch, Sophia, eight, Liberty, four, Johnny, one and Jack, four months.

Lorraine airs weekdays on ITV from 8.30am.