Asian Masks

Ok, so about an hour into the film Christine comes to visit Antoine at the shoe shop. The shot looks in from the outside. Just after she enters, Fabienne is finishing serving an Asian woman and (presumably) her two kids. But look closely... the two kids are plainly wearing crude masks and shiny bowler hats as they exit. Look at it. Unmistakable. Yet not a thing is made of it.

I couldn't concentrate on the following scene as I simply had too many questions. Flabbergasted. What is going on here? What are the masks all about? A fleeting reference to Tabard's comment about Asian women and high heels in his shop? (the woman in the scene is wearing heels, I checked). Is it some inside joke of Truffaut's? Were the crew simply unable to find two Asian kids and put masks on two French kids instead? Seems the most logical guess - but then the next questions are: is that a bit racist? and couldn't they have just replaced the woman instead of masking the kids? Why is it imperative they be Asian?

I'm not letting this go, there must be something behind it. Help.