Vlada Dzyuba, 14, from the industrial city of Perm in Russia, missed school to work on catwalks on a 'three month contract' to realise her dream of becoming a supermodel.
But the teenager died from 'utter exhaustion' and meningitis as she waited for her latest assignment thousands of miles from home in China.
Her parents say they 'cannot afford' to fly her body home and she is expected to be cremated with her ashes returned to her homeland after a month.
Her case raises acute fears over the exploitation of children by the glamour industry
Vlada is reported to have attended a 13-hour jewellery modelling shoot before collapsing after becoming the latest Russian teenage model to travel to China.
According to Daily Mail, in an earlier contract in China, Vlada received just £6.30 a day for her catwalk appearances once her air fares, hotels, food and insurance had been taken from her earnings, reported the Russian media.
The girl was 'scared' to seek hospital treatment because she did not have medical insurance on her latest trip to China, say the media citing her mother.