It is of no surprise that people first noticed Chrissie Chau only when she stripped and walked through throngs of young office workers downtown, wearing only a bikini.

Chrissie did it for a slimming salon’s television commercial, which catapulted her to the top of a growing pack of teen models – or lang mo, as they are commonly known. These pretty young women have captured the public’s imagination with their seductive and, at times, revealing poses.

At the same time, they have triggered a debate about the effects of model worship on the young in Hong Kong.

Chrissie, a high school graduate, is now 23 but started posing for small modelling agencies when she was about 16, according to reports.

She eked out a living with sporadic appearances in local fashion magazines and low-budget films.

Her big break came when she appeared in the slimming salon commercial in November last year. Business for the clinic jumped threefold.

Now, Chrissie is among about a dozen so-called teen models who have grown into older and much richer superstars. Others include Angelababy, now 20, Lavina, 21, and Rainbow, still only 17.

All have touched off a blizzard of marketing campaigns, with photographs of them in skimpy dresses, public appearances in shopping malls and exhibitions, and even life-size body pillows.

Lately, Chrissie also became a target of criticism after her controversial appearance last month in a university forum hosted by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

There, college students and academics confronted her with questions ranging from the impact of body pillows – stuffed life-size pillow cases printed with an image of one’s favourite girl – to whether she regretted not having spent more time in school.

Critics attacked her answers as shallow and brainless while fans rushed to her defence, praising her sincerity.

But, in many ways, Chrissie and the other teen models are representative of their generation. The rise in their popularity started more than five years ago and corresponded, curiously, with a rising backlash against sexually charged issues, ranging from pictures and videos of nudity to sexual orientation.

“The alternative youth culture is more open and liberal than the mainstream values portrayed by the society and the media,” said Associate Professor Anthony Fung of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “Our society is not facing up to this reality.”

Mr Roy Kwong, Chrissie’s manager and head of Global Mania Empire Management, attributed the popularity of teen models to the changing tastes of the young.

Despite the provocative poses they strike, there have been no scandals involving teen models – at least not yet.

Prof Fung said most of the models he interviewed did not say whether they had exchanged sex for success, but he suspects it might have happened.

On the other hand, some teen models use their earnings to better themselves by going to college.

As many hail from low-income families, they would otherwise have skipped higher education.

“Young people are facing a different, more difficult environment that that of their parents,” said Mr Kwong, who has six teen models under contract.

“There are fewer job opportunities around. It’s more difficult for them to achieve something.”

Girls can start, when they are as young as 11, with assignments for amateur photographers through online photo clubs, where they earn about HK$500 (S$89) a day.

A successful teen model can easily earn a six-figure sum for a single job.

Both Chrissie and Angelababy have used their modelling careers as a stepping stone into movies.

Chrissie now takes in as much as HK$800,000 for a film and at least HK$50,000 just for a public relations event appearance.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times.