Coco Rocha has a pretty well-known no nudity or partial nudity policy when it comes to her modeling work–so it may have come as a surprise to her fans that the supermodel posed nearly topless for the cover of Elle Brazil. Turns out, it came as a surprise to Coco as well. Apparently, Coco was Read more →
The modeling industry is largely unregulated: Models are independent contractors without basic employment rights like workplace protection and minimum age and wage requirements.
That’s why the Model Alliance, established to improve models’ working conditions as well as provide a safe space for models to communicate with one another about their rights, created one of the first surveys we’ve seen to offer an analysis of models’ experiences.
“When Sara [Ziff, the founder of the Model Alliance] and I were just starting to think about ways we could organize models, and how we might go about working for fairer labor standards in the industry, we realized we first needed to know how models viewed their working conditions, and where models themselves saw room for improvement,” Jenna Sauers, who sits on the board of the Model Alliance, said. “We did the survey because we wanted a map, basically.”
Granted, the sample size is pretty small (the Alliance sent an anonymous online survey to 241 working models, and only 85 responded) but still, it offers a little window into what life is like as a working model. Some of the results aren’t that surprising (most models begin working at age 13-19, most of them have been told to lose weight by their agencies), but others are downright horrifying.
With their new health initiative guideline that models be ID’d to prove they are above the age of 16, the CFDA is making an effort to create a healthier and fairer work environment for models. But is the fashion industry even listening? We asked designers, models and casting agents during New York Fashion Week, and the answer seems to be: Wellll, not really.
Last night loads of leggy models–A-listers like Shalom Harlow, Doutzen Kroes, Coco Rocha and Crystal Renn among them–gathered at the Standard in the Meatpacking to sip free vodka drinks over loud music. At first glance, a typical fashion party.
Only it wasn’t. These models were gathered to celebrate the launch of the Model Alliance, a non-profit organization founded by Sara Ziff dedicated to “helping models in the American fashion industry organize for safe, fair, and healthy standards in their workplace.”
