Sexual Misconduct Allegations in the Fashion Industry

[Armani]

sh*tmodelmgmt:

blacklist going down tonight at midnight - im getting too many death threats and threats to find my family and make me sorry i did this.

im still not sorry for protecting models from future negative experiences.

thank you so much to the thousands of people that supported me through this scary but important movement.

 

[Armani]

cont.

someone had to do this. i know its crazy that a meme account ended up being the person to do it, but it was just time. what would you do if you had thousands of horrific stories? would you just go to bed at night knowing you had a way to help? im not that kind of person. im not the kind of person to stay silent. and maybe im too bold. but i couldnt wait around for change. because it wasnt coming. not until someone spoke out, no matter how scary it is. i couldnt wait for the police to do it. tell the models to get a lawyer and solve it on their own. do you realize it took decades for the police to give a sh*t and finally investigate terry richardson? when he had SO MANY victims, and his disgusting ways were already public? no one saw what i saw. no one read what i read. these experiences were heartbreaking. these models were coming to me terrified that their named person would find out it was them who reported. i have a relationship with my followers. ive always answered their dms and i consider you guys friends. i feel a connection with every one of you and i had to do something to help.

 

[Armani]

cont.

creeps in the fashion industry: be afraid. watch yourself. because the truth will always come out. people arent afraid of you anymore. time is f*cking up. and its time for this b*llsh*t to end. models: be brave. be bold. f*ck the consequences. name your abuser. tell your stories. its over for these pieces of sh*t that abuse their power.

 

[Benn98]

Well, can't say I'm surprised the list is going down. This blogger completely mismanaged this list. First option should've been to reach out to a newspaper, not even the police or lawyer, which would give the accusers a chance to cover it up.

 

[billiejbob]

I'm glad the list got taken down.

This "blog" which has no investigatory credibility and failed to provide a single ounce of proof shows how dangerous this is. The fact that some people on the list were later found to have been falsely accused shows that outing individuals should be left up to people who actually have credible skills at uncovering truths.

This kind of stuff could ruin people's lives.

 

[CholoChic]

I think that the percentage of models that went sexually further with the stalkers is higher than the offended ones and surely it did not seem much to sexually please these men for a bit of fame and money They both had what they wanted and they are satisfied and they will not tell anything The others felt abused and now they denounce Which makes me think of a fashion flesh market darker than it seems.

 

[Melancholybaby]

^I'm not sure I'm following here. The fact that some models have used sexual advances to advance their careers makes it ok for the ones that were abused? Or the fact that the percentage for the former case is bigger than the later? Where did that percentage come from? Have there been many cases of models coming forward and admitting that they had sex with higher-ups to help their careers? I don't think so, and even if it was true, one person abused is one too many.

 

[CholoChic]

It is not ok for the abused ones in any way andAnd there is no justification. I just wanna understad if it happened by decades and was vox populi I think Because of the blatant and trusting manner in which the victims tell how they were attacked, I believe that there were a tendency for the abusers elaborated by those who allowed it and yielded to the low instincts of the predators and
they are much more than the complainants. In a few words it seems that the abusers played Russian roulette with all their models and they always had a good chance of winning.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Well, it's a theory ... but is there anything backing it up? Basically what you're saying is you believe that a majority have the mindset of a prostitute. I disagree. I don't think the majority of models, actresses, etc. have that mindset.

 

[CholoChic]

^ I dont think the models are prostitutes, I think depredators use their power, their influence, their talent, their contacts with the promes to give a chance to a model if they make what they want and this is horrible because models are so young and they are told that they are in the edge of being nothing or being something, of course nobody will say "I am succesful because in the beggining I made some favors to some depredators", the people who talked about this is because they didnt want to do that. There are a lot cases in internet that claims that it happens in the fashion industry.

 

[fashionista-ta]

This is what you said ...

I think that the percentage of models that went sexually further with the stalkers is higher than the offended ones and surely it did not seem much to sexually please these men for a bit of fame and money They both had what they wanted and they are satisfied and they will not tell anything The others felt abused and now they denounce Which makes me think of a fashion flesh market darker than it seems.

When "surely it does not seem much to sexually please these men for a bit of fame and money," that is literally the mindset of a prostitute. See what I mean?

 

[CholoChic]

So if these photographers are many decades in the fashion industry working with hundreds of boys harassing them we have to ask how many of them how many allowed and yielded to this harassment. Of course they will not tell that and of course never will feel like a prostitute. I think it's a complex issue but I dont think they are prostitutes because they because they did not offer themselves sexually but were induced with threats never to work again.

 

[tomtakesphotos]

Please someone explain to me, why anyone would want to defend Testino, Weber etc.?!

They are millionaires, who have been around far too long and accumulated more power than one person ought to in this industry, and they abused that power period that's not up for debate-- wether you think it's okay for them to abuse their power, or if the models they did this with advanced from it etc. whatever, why would you be sad to see two people like this move on + make room for a new generation hopefully?

 

[KateTheGreatest]

For me, personally it is just difficult (or it takes time) to process that people I have admired and liked or loved for so long, that they would do something so horrific to others.
What draws me the most to fashion photography is creativity. They make stories, they need the right models, the right wardrobe for a story, right team. Everything has to connect. And when it is done right, you can have a team that produces a wonderful editorial, an amazing story that can stay on your mind for months or even years. For me, this is main thing and nothing else. I think something like that is very special. It is just so disappointing to know what goes behind the scenes, how some people behave. And it is not even fair of me to complain, because personally they did not do anything to me and the victimes are the hurt people. But I still need time to comprehend this.
As far as new people are concerned, with the way things have been going lately, we need some new blood. We needed it before there was even talk about sexual miscondusts, it was time for a change. A rebirth is much needed.

 

[rosiecheeks]

For me, personally it is just difficult (or it takes time) to process that people I have admired and liked or loved for so long, that they would do something so horrific to others.
What draws me the most to fashion photography is creativity. They make stories, they need the right models, the right wardrobe for a story, right team. Everything has to connect. And when it is done right, you can have a team that produces a wonderful editorial, an amazing story that can stay on your mind for months or even years. For me, this is main thing and nothing else. I think something like that is very special. It is just so disappointing to know what goes behind the scenes, how some people behave. And it is not even fair of me to complain, because personally they did not do anything to me and the victimes are the hurt people. But I still need time to comprehend this.
As far as new people are concerned, with the way things have been going lately, we need some new blood. We needed it before there was even talk about sexual miscondusts, it was time for a change. A rebirth is much needed.

Ever since I met one of the photographers named in this thread and was abused by him (am not a model) I can't say I'm surprised. But then again, if you look at the "visual" language in most of fashion photography, I think I knew somewhere that something was off for much much longer. The way the photographers (who are also mostly men) always talk about the models too, was a give away.

Unfortunately, I think it is almost embedded into its very structure (as it is engrained into our societies). The purge has begun, but I think we need to burn down more, need to do more than just weeding out the baddies. Language, structure, economy etc. has to be examined. This is going to take longggggg.

 

[rosiecheeks]

I find it surprising to see so few reactions from designers and famous models regarding these "revelations". Looks like the Fashion Industry is having a hard time looking at itself in the mirror...
I'm surprised that models like Karen Elson, Liya, Natalia, Doutzen, Karlie etc. have been completely mute on the subject so far (unless I've missed something).

They can't really. Or they can, but they have worked with these people and in denouncing them they will render a part of their own work tainted. I'm intensely annoyed by models doing all this "charity" work, like Natalia and Doutzen and Karlie for all these sexy, cute, "easy" causes, like girl-coding and elephants and what not. Use your power to say something uncomfortable ! Not speaking out is making you even more complicit.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ I think these are both really important causes, but I agree that it's important for everyone to speak out and support everyone who's been harmed.

 

[Benn98]

They can't really. Or they can, but they have worked with these people and in denouncing them they will render a part of their own work tainted. I'm intensely annoyed by models doing all this "charity" work, like Natalia and Doutzen and Karlie for all these sexy, cute, "easy" causes, like girl-coding and elephants and what not. Use your power to say something uncomfortable ! Not speaking out is making you even more complicit.

They're only thinking of themselves! Much easier to run around after elephants in Africa with squirmingly insensitive pics to boot than do something which will shift the industry which employ them and others. That, and possibly knowing that the tide against these men may eventually turn and they'll find themselves unofficially blacklisted by these titans. The biggest problem of the modelling industry is solidarity....even in this darkest hour.

 

[TaylorBinque]

The biggest problem of the modelling industry is solidarity....even in this darkest hour.

I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. What I find most annoying is how a lot of major models are supporting Time's Up and #MeToo movement. Yet, they keep their mouths zipped on the subject matter within their own industry. It's mind baffling. Vogue completely plays a back-foot role on all of these. They should be the one to investigate this. Anna should be the spearheading this. But, yeah, because #SheKnew.

 

[Benn98]

Perhaps not entirely related, but oh well.....

Dear Walmart, Pulling Cosmopolitan From Your Checkout Lines Has Nothing to Do With #MeToo

March 28, 2018 5:57 PM
by Michelle Ruiz

How not to please a modern, feminist, sex-positive woman in 2018? Ban Cosmopolitan from checkout lines at the nation’s largest retailer. The real world took another step toward its slow and sure conversion to The Handmaid’s Tale this week, as Walmart announced that it would no longer sell the women’s magazine famous for its saucy covers in checkout lines at its more than 5,000 stores across the country (it will remain, however, on newsstand racks within stores). Walmart is calling it a “business decision,” but it came after pressure from a conservative media watchdog group, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), which had launched a campaign to pull Cosmo from checkout areas in an effort to make them more “family-friendly and sexploitation-free.”

“Families and individuals will no longer be automatically exposed to Cosmo’s hypersexualized and degrading article titles that regularly promote p*rn*gr*phy, sexting, BDSM, group sex, anal sex, and more, all while marketing toward young teens with Disney star cover models,” NCOSE rejoiced on its website.

Equally, if not more, troubling than Walmart censoring Cosmo, though, was NCOSE executive director Dawn Hawkins’s completely misguided invoking of #MeToo in her declaration of victory: “This is what real change looks like in our #MeToo culture,” she said in a statement. “NCOSE is proud to work with a major corporation like Walmart to combat sexually exploitative influences in our society.”

I’m embarrassed for Hawkins because she just broadcasted to the entire country that she is a woman who has no idea what #MeToo means. ICYMI: #MeToo is about unwanted sex and sexual attention, sexual assault, and harassment. While Cosmopolitan is a magazine and a brand best known for its sex tips (including my personal favorite, a suggestion to ring a donut on a guy’s penis)—it is all about consensual adult sex. Your sex life, your business, NCOSE, but in the pages of Cosmo and elsewhere in the real world, neither sexting nor BDSM are crimes among consenting adults. And in no way does the magazine market content about these topics to minors. (Cosmo is not a teen magazine—that’s what its sister publication Seventeen is for. But if teens are looking to Cosmo for sex ed, it’s probably because of the dearth of actual sex ed in the most conservative states.)

Especially in recent years, Cosmo has moved away from the well-trodden “how to please your man” angle and advocated more for women’s sexual pleasure (in addition to covering politics, health care, and the LGBT community). I know this firsthand: As a former sex and relationships editor at the magazine, I edited an in-depth, scientific (no, really) 12-page feature on the complexities of the female orgasm. Shielding women from reading about the healthy sex they want to have has absolutely nothing to do with #MeToo. In fact, pulling Cosmopolitan—a magazine by (mostly) women for women—only serves to further shame women for wanting to own their sex lives. And that, Ms. Hawkins, actually does contribute to the culture of blaming women that #MeToo is just now tearing down.

Walmart has covered up Cosmo before—in 2015—and, note to both the retail giant and NCOSE, you’re very likely only doing Cosmo a favor in giving it a jolt of free PR: Attempting to squash and silence the magazine only creates more intrigue around it. The theme of undermining and dismissing women’s magazines as useless fluff is nothing new, either. While it’s generally more than acceptable for men’s titles to mix lighter fare like steak grilling techniques with heftier interviews with U.S. generals, women’s magazines are frequently told to shut up and stick to fashion—I know this firsthand too, largely from the delightful one-follower Twitter trolls who “@” me on a daily basis. How interesting that Walmart and the NCOSE are clutching their proverbial pearls at Cosmo while saying nothing about the sexy stories and scantily clad women who regularly appear on and in men’s magazines. It’s almost as if men are taught to embrace and enjoy sex while women are shamed over it! I’m all for Esquire’s annual Sexiest Woman Alive feature and Men’s Health’s “Sex Positions for Couples With a Serious Height Difference” (subhead: “doggy-style for the win”), but Cosmo should be allowed to exist with the same freedom.

Source: Vogue.com