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Video: TV Argument Over Doll Fashion of 15 Year-Old London Girl

A 15 year-old girl whose "doll-like" appearance was criticised in the British press has appeared on the ITV breakfast television programme Daybreak. The girl, Venus Palermo, has now posted the four-minute interview to YouTube.

Venus, who lives in London and calls herself Venus Angelic online, was "inspired by the craze for Japanese anime," according to the Daily Mail. The paper also says she "set about changing her look to that of a porcelain doll after a trip to [Japan]."

Venus dresses in a doll fashion every day, creating the look with powder, eyeshadow, mascara, lip liner and gloss. She has posted over 70 YouTube videos, including make-up tutorials.

The Daybreak programme illustrates the fashion's debt to "Japanese comics" with an image of a sex doll from the film Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.

In the TV interview, the programme's female host, Helen Fospero, is critical of Venus's look, saying that it is "not a normal part of childhood." The host also said that she would be horrified if her own daughter wanted to look like Venus when she was 15.

However, Venus's look is defended by her mother, Margaret Palermo. She said the doll appearance was "just a style" and described her daughter as an "innocent and very nice good girl, who just likes cute clothes and frills and ribbons."

The Daily Mail newspaper has reported on Venus's TV appearance on its website. The Mail's earlier story about Venus, and other doll-like models such as Dakota Rose is online here.

The original article is headed, "Meet the real-life Barbies: Internet craze sees teenagers turn themselves into freakish living dolls." It says the doll style "appears to be inspired by the Japanese anime culture, in which big eyes and long straight hair are key features... As early as 2010 it was reported that an increasing amount of Japanese women were aspiring to look like dolls, embracing femininity and obliterating sexuality altogether."