When Will Models Reign New York Fashion Week?

The work of a model walking New York Fashion Week may seem like a breeze and a wonderful dream come true for anyone. When your workplace takes stage in front of the globe’s legendary fashion editors, icons, and designers, it may be hard to imagine the contrary, despite how glamourous appearances may be. The irony in the realities some faces of mutli-million dollar industries live can be shocking.
We’ve witnessed some misconceptions of the entertainment industry going into the Labor Day weekend when Fox News reported a story ridiculing former Cosby Show actor, Geoffrey Owens for working at Trader Joe’s grocery store. What some people who meant to humiliate Owens working a service job failed to realize is that everyday workers are the very ones who we must thank for unions and the ability to take Labor Day off. In a Good Morning America exclusive interview this morning, Owens perfectly addressed the root of the issue stating that he hopes these conversations “[reevaluate] the idea that some jobs are better than others.” Continuing over the weekend many famous actors, athletes, and celebrities shared their personal stories of how Owens working a service job is not uncommon and in fact, very dignifying and honorable.
Many explained via Twitter that strong work ethic does not reflect in the appeared prestige of their job. Perfectly aligning with the spirit of Labor Day, the conversations around the history of unions and workers’ rights blossomed. The public truly learned some of the challenges there are to working for yourself and how vast independent contractors may dominate entertainment industries, however don’t have complete control over their labor. Tons others further illustrated how famous actors, athletes, and models have less job security and overall rights in the workplace.
The surprising reality is that the fashion industry is not much different than working at an everyday service job. Many of the issues and complaints models have, reflect those of women, minorities, and other vulnerable workers. Although the superficial business of openly discriminating against certain people to uphold this thin, white, able-bodied image of high fashion is now discouraged, it remains as the underlying tone of who has access to and success in the industry. . Granted some progress has been made in the fashion industry — hitting a few milestones over recent years — though more should be done for modeling labor rights. Over the last half decade we have seen an increase in diversity on the runways by size, race, and ability — however, many models continue to face sexual harassment, colorism, and wage theft. Although there are a few international unions and labor laws for models, the US drags behind in overall employment rights.

Models endure centuries old issues of child labor, livable wage, and unsafe work conditions. It all begins with who agencies choose to represent. Many famous international models are young, ranging from ages 14 to 21 years old. The vulnerability of teen models has lead to some in fashion questioning the ethics of contracting those too young to vote as headlines for campaigns with mature content. A recent article of Vogue highlighted the actions taken by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) supporting raising the minimum age of models allowed for editorials and runway shows — aimed to protect minors where power can easily be abused. Yet, age regulations are just the beginning stepping stones towards progress.

Models who become the primary earner in their family tend to have an added pressure of signing strict contracts with agencies. Modeling agencies can be a large part of the problem because it takes a substantial percentage of a model’s earnings. Similar to 360 deals in music, modeling contracts can end up costing the model more money than they may earn. These expenses cover housing costs for model houses — an apartment in which several models may be crammed living with one another, international travel, among other development expenses that force models to pay out of pocket. Sometimes these contracts leave models, both those in the beginning stages and even rather successful veterans, with paying the literal price of being a model.
This is one of the reasons why many models took issue with Kendall Jenner’s comments last month that suggested she could take whatever jobs she wanted and “never was one of those girls who did like 30 shows a season or whatever the f*ck those girls do.” It’s understandable with the harsh working conditions why some models took offense, listing their hard work as doing up to 70 shows a season while experiencing sexual harassment. In the midst of the #MeToo movement, fashion influencers have taken preemptive measures to prevent workplace harassment. The gradual changes has improved modeling working conditions, however more regulations such as stable employee status, establishing a minimum wage, and provisions discouraging agencies from having weight and size requirements in modeling contracts continue to be necessary.

There have been several attempts to address worker protections for models in the US through legislation. Recently, efforts have become stagnant after models noted that unionizing could potentially hurt their careers. What’s needed is a stronger investment of models in the fashion industry. Labor Day shows us that when workers are treated as valued individuals by their employers, overall safety and health conditions improve. It’s no different for modeling. Although models may hold a prominent position in society and gain fame, they’re similar to any other worker. Just because their labor may be invisible does not mean that they do not deserve to have workplace rights. As we depart from Labor Day weekend and enter Fashion Week, before we get into discussions about the latest designs and post videos with the #NYFW18 hashtag, let’s first appreciate and support the models whose labor built the fashion industry into this billion dollar business it is today.
