Models Demand Union (2007) : Model Alliance formed (2012)

[TommyGirl]

Great that this is finally happening. Every other field has its own union to support employees rights, so why shouldn`t models have? I just hope this is well organized and actually helpful for models. And more than anything I hope models have the courage to join in, changes won`t happen without people behind them.

 

[Jasmine04]

The Models Alliance video campaign has been released.

The Model Alliance is a nonprofit organization dedicated to giving models a voice in the American fashion industry. We made this, our first-ever campaign video, thanks to B2PRO and Bunker Media.

Featuring models Coco Rocha, Angela Highsmith, Jessica Clark, Zach Zimmerman, Alexey Galetskiy, and Edmond Roosendaal, along with Model Alliance board members Sara Ziff, Jenna Sauers, Susan Scafidi, and Doriwan Warren.

Directed by Sara Ziff. Produced by Ruy Sánchez Blanco. Music by John Forté for le Castle Music Works.

vimeo.com/modelalliance

 

[Jasmine04]

Coco Rocha, Doutzen Kroes, and Shalom Harlow Talk Models' Rights
By Shakthi Jothianandan

"For far too long, modeling has been like the wild wild West," announced Coco Rocha, who co-hosted last night's launch party at the Standard Hotel for the Model Alliance, a new workers' rights organization for fashion models. Spearheaded by model/activist/Columbia graduate Sara Ziff, the Alliance has been a work-in-progress for several years. Rocha believes it could grow to become a “capable counterpart to the CFDA,” and scrolled through her phone to shout out models who had pledged their support: "Karlie Kloss, Hilary Rhoda, Behati Prinsloo, Chanel Iman..." Meanwhile, Ziff emphasized the many issues at the core of the Alliance's mission, recalling times when she'd been “put on the spot to take age-inappropriate photos” and felt that agencies had been dishonest with their bookkeeping.

Plenty of other models were there to lend support, including Doutzen Kroes, Shalom Harlow, and Crystal Renn. All three were in agreement that models are too young, underpaid, and need protection. “The issue of an underage girl working without any kind of mentoring or chaperoning is really critical, because at that age you’re still learning boundaries, you’re still learning how to stand in your right and say no," said Harlow. She knows from experience: "It took tremendous will for me to say, ‘No, I’m not going to walk down the runway naked, even though it’s my first time doing a show for you, and you’re threatening to cancel me, and you’re this huge designer I’ve seen on TV my whole life, and I’m standing up to you and I’m 16 years old.'" She characterized the power dynamic in the industry thusly: “Huge egos and a very underdeveloped ego at odds.”

Meanwhile, Kroes suggested some simple improvements. “I think the Model Alliance can make a rule that every model has to have a minimum salary, you know?” she said, citing trade — when payment for walking in a fashion show is a garment from a designer's collection — as a major issue. Models who ask for payment, she said, can be swiftly replaced by a less demanding girl from the talent pool. Added Harlow, “There’s a misconception about how we get paid and, yeah, sometimes there’s windfall jobs, but very often we're working for free or for clothes.” The UK Model's Union negotiated with the British Fashion Council to establish minimum fees for shows. Rocha echoed via email, “I'd like to see standards of pay for our models in America. This is the one place where models are repeatedly asked to work for little to no money. In France we are paid, in Milan we are paid, why not here?”
Source:http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2012/02/coco-rocha-doutzen-kroes-talk-models-rights.html

nymag

 

[t-rex]

I'm afraid to hear what people who don't follow fashion think about this. I think everyone still perceives models as dumb and narcissistic - and rolling in money in their huge, glossy apartment.

 

[TommyGirl]

Afraid or not, it is important for models, as they are employees, though often in many different circumastances than say factory worker. But as they say, it is kinda rude power game, really, which other industry in western society makes 16 year old, maybe with very little language skills and alone face these huge egos.

People will get used to it after some time and buzz has passed, it has always been difficult for workers unions at first. But at least here we I am living, unions have done a a lot improvements in the whole work enviroment and every field, which wouldn`be guranteed without people organized to demand it.

and btw, I bet that ppl that don´t follow fashion won`t hear much of this,just because they don`t follow it.

 

[mimirose]

Over the moon about this happening. Models deserve a union just like any other occupation or industry. There needs to be someone voicing the concerns of models and representing their position. Some of the conditions faced by younger and more inexperienced models can be really awful - this is brilliant step but there's a long way to go.

 

[LUXXX]

THis is really great that its starting to make some noise...I mean, actors have a union, why shouldn't models have someone to protect their rights? Modeling is a segment of show business, so it makes perfect sense to me.

 

[MulletProof]

Sara Ziff wrote an interesting article for The Guardian this week.. glad to see her going to strong media to get across.

The ugly truth of fashion's model behavior
New York fashion week is a perfect time to focus attention on how abusive this unregulated industry is towards young women
By Sara Ziff
Monday 13 February 2012

"You get paid to look good, now shut up"
This is the kind of remark I often hear about my efforts to establish fair labor standards for models working in the American fashion industry. Modeling is a seemingly glamorous profession, and models are certainly not the people you picture when you think of bad working conditions. But wipe off the sheen and another reality emerges.

At 29, I have worked as a model for over half my life, and I'm the first to admit that I've been lucky in my career. I have worked with some of fashion's most talented, creative people as the face of some of the industry's most recognized brands. I enjoy modeling, a job that not only paid my bills, but also allowed me to put myself through school. I have no reason to speak negatively about an industry that has given me so much. And, yet, I can no longer stay silent about rampant abuses that I have experienced firsthand.

The modeling business today is unregulated and relies on a compliant labor force of children. Sexual abuse and systematic theft occur at the highest levels of the industry, and because models are considered to be "independent contractors", the rule of law in terms of workplace standards does not exist. Sadly, the notion that fashion is frivolous encourages a dismissive, misogynistic attitude toward the industry's young workers, and it is precisely this sentiment that allows the abuse of vulnerable young people to persist.

When I entered the business as a 14-year-old schoolgirl, I was routinely asked to do topless shoots and pose seductively. To this day, in an industry dominated by minors, there is no policy of informed consent for jobs involving full or partial nudity. A recent survey shows that 86.8% of models have been asked to pose nude at a casting or job without advance notice.

Sexual abuse is a pervasive problem. Consider just the last few years: in 2008, fashion designer Anand Jon was found guilty of r*pe and multiple counts assault on aspiring models, who ranged from 14 to 21 years old. Last year, models began to speak out in numbers against Terry Richardson, one of the industry's most powerful photographers, who has been accused of pressuring models to disrobe at castings and conducting shoots that involve what he claims are consensual sex acts performed on him by models. (Among Richardson's regular clients are H&M, Vogue, and GQ.)

What is worse, in an industry where the majority of models start their careers before age 16, most working unchaperoned and far from home, the incentive to say nothing in order to keep your job creates an unconscionable environment of coercion.

Lack of financial transparency is also a significant problem. Last year, three models brought a lawsuit against their New York agency Next for allegedly withholding $750,000 of their earnings. Like the plaintiffs, I also left Next after becoming increasingly wary of their opaque bookkeeping, and I was paid the outstanding earnings they owed me only after my lawyer threatened legal action. As a model, simply getting paid can be a major issue, and, of the models who achieve a coveted spot walking in New York fashion week, many, in fact, are never paid at all; instead, working for free or for clothes. Needless to say, a tank top doesn't pay the rent.

To combat this systemic abuse, I recently formed the Model Alliance, a nonprofit organization that aims to give models in the American fashion business a voice. With the support of other top models (Coco Rocha, Doutzen Kroes, Crystal Renn, Shalom Harlow), industry leaders, and the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School, we produced a draft models' bill of rights to demand fair treatment from modeling agencies and clients. Our backstage privacy policy, endorsed by Diane von Furstenberg and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), aims to protect models from invasive photography while they are naked and changing backstage at New York Fashion Week. The Model Alliance has also partnered with Actors' Equity and the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), members of the AFL-CIO, America's largest federation of trade unions, to establish Model Alliance Support, a confidential grievance service to members who have experienced any kind of abuse.

Our glossy industry often provokes superficial criticism of models' weight and body image, but the fact is that most models' clout in their workplace is as tiny as their size-zero frames. It is time to delve beneath the surface and consider models' concerns from a labor and public health standpoint. Photographs of models pervade our culture, and we cannot promote healthy images without taking steps to protect the faces of this business. This effort starts with giving the faces of this business a voice. Correcting these abuses starts with seeing models through a different lens: not as dehumanized images, but as human beings who deserve the same rights and protections as all workers.

 

[Fontenrose]

Just as Ford Models has no intention of actually following the agreement, designers don't really think that it is their problem either:

Marc Jacobs may be one of the high kings of New York Fashion Week but he is not beyond reproach.
The designer is on the receiving end of an avalanche of criticism after sending two underage models down the runway on Monday.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...14-year-old-models-catwalk.html#ixzz1mZI3ynM9
​

 

[TommyGirl]

I really admire Sara Ziff, as in this business the backyards are really unguarded and all from the bookers to designers seem to like to keep it that way. She has broke already many boundaries, I really hope she find more couraged followers and actually they can make a change. As it has been made in many other industries nad businesses. A job is a two-way thing, not only one part can have a exclusive right to decide how things are done.

And paying in trade? Seriously, that should be denied as a whole, at least in the big fashion weeks. That just lead hundreads of girls to be in terrible debt for the agency, and this is calculated thing I am sure. Actually the whole pattern of how things are done in modeling is really shady, when you think of it.

 

[Jasmine04]

Just as Ford Models has no intention of actually following the agreement, designers don't really think that it is their problem either:

Yeah, until these guidelines become mandatory instead of optional, there will always be those who aren't going to follow them.
Marc said this in response to the criticism,

"I do the show the way I think it should be and not the way somebody tells me it should be.
If their parents are willing to let them do a show, I don't see any reason that it should be me who tells them that they can't...There are children actors and children models for catalogs and stuff, so I guess if a parent thinks it’s O.K. and a kid wants to do it, it’s fine."

The thing is, there are major differences between the working environments of underage fashion models and those of children actors and catalog models. And parents aren't always the best judge of what's right for their kids when it comes to an industry they may not know a lot about.

 

[bothsidesnow]

Yeah, until these guidelines become mandatory instead of optional, there will always be those who aren't going to follow them.
Marc said this in response to the criticism,

"I do the show the way I think it should be and not the way somebody tells me it should be.
If their parents are willing to let them do a show, I don't see any reason that it should be me who tells them that they can't...There are children actors and children models for catalogs and stuff, so I guess if a parent thinks it’s O.K. and a kid wants to do it, it’s fine."

The thing is, there are major differences between the working environments of underage fashion models and those of children actors and catalog models. And parents aren't always the best judge of what's right for their kids when it comes to an industry they may not know a lot about.

Exactly! I agree with everything you say.
I'm sure Marc Jacobs would welcome the guidelines with open arms - it provides him with a wonderful opportunity to get cheap publicity by flouting them.

 

[Fantomette]

The fact that Marc Jacobs pretends to ignore that kids working for children targeted jobs is different from young girls wearing expensive clothes designed for women doesn't only make him look like a coward, it also makes him look dumb.

 

[ladygodiva]

and btw, I bet that ppl that don´t follow fashion won`t hear much of this,just because they don`t follow it.

Would not have known about a Model's Alliance had it not been for TFS.

 

[Lee MG Tisci]

i think this thread should be moved to The ETC's of the Modeling World and maybe even get pinned there..

Industry Analysis

About the survey: We sent an anonymous, online survey to 241 working fashion models based in New York and Los Angeles. 85 responded. Their average age was 26, indicating that our sample skewed towards older, more experienced models. We are working to reach out to younger models at the beginnings of their careers. We chose to focus this survey on women models, because male modeling is a much smaller market, but in the future we would like to survey men. Our respondents have worked in over a dozen countries, and several high-profile supermodels completed the survey.

We found that the majority of models begin their careers very young — most start working before age 16.

Despite the fact that the modeling labor force skews so young, the most models under the age of 18 are not supervised by a parent or guardian while on the job.

For the overwhelming majority of models who are not born and raised in New York, starting a career means moving to a new city, or even a foreign country, where their families may not be financially able to accompany them.

The models we surveyed shared several common concerns about their health on the job. Perhaps unsurprisingly, nearly two-thirds of models have been pressured to lose weight by their agencies. Eating disorders are not uncommon. Models report that drug use in the workplace is rampant. And more than two-thirds of models say they suffer from anxiety or depression.

Given that agencies and clients consider models to be independent contractors, rather than employees, many of our survey subjects lack health insurance coverage. And given our survey sample skewed in favor of older, more established and financially stable models, it’s safe to say that among younger models and foreign models, the rate of insurance coverage is even lower.

Sexual harassment and abuse at work is also of concern to many models. Backstage at fashion shows and at photo shoots, models are often expected to change in full view of photographers, stylists, assistants, and anyone else who may happen to be present. Nearly all models have experienced a “surprise” nude shoot or casting. A sizable minority of working models have experienced sexual harassment on the job. Few models told their agencies about it, perhaps because of the fact that of the models who did, two-thirds found that their agents didn’t see the problem. Models even reported that their agents encouraged them to sleep with their harassers to help their careers.

modelalliance.org

 

[lunabella]

i have a suggestion if those statistics are anywhere close to the truth: QUIT MODELLING.

 

[Scott]

got to hand it to sara ziff for not only instigating this mission but just unrelenting on this entire issue. she should be commended. too often for far too long models have gone without voices....seen purely as objects.....now these young women might finally have a chance to stand on their own feet without being completely dictated to.