Models won a major victory over exploitative labor practices in the fashion industry last week. On Friday, June 7, The New York State Fashion Workers Act, a piece of legislation sponsored by State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal aimed at making the fashion industry more accountable for the treatment of models, passed the state assembly after passing the senate the previous day. After three years of coalition building from the advocacy group the Model Alliance, which fought major pushback from agencies, this latest development moves the bill to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk to be signed.
Historically, models have been subject to harassment, financial exploitation, and wage theft within a culture that normalizes silence. In the last decade, dozens of models have come forward to discuss mistreatment and assault on sets as well as unfair business practices from agencies which kept them in the dark about their finances.
“The Model Alliance has run a support line for over a decade now, where we've heard pretty much every day from working and aspiring models about a whole range of concerns,” Sara Ziff, Founder & Executive Director of the Model Alliance, tells Teen Vogue. “Right now, it's not unusual for models to be pretty much in the dark about their own business dealings.” Many modeling contracts make it so that models sign power of attorney to their agencies and don’t get a say in their own business dealings. “[Agencies] are the ones who are booking the jobs, negotiating everything, really know all of the terms of the job, the scope, the rate of pay, the usage… I think that that is actually the basis for a lot of other problems in the industry, including walking on set and then being put on the spot to take off your clothes or any number of other abuses that are normalized.”
Models would also be provided with a deal memo 24 hours in advance so they have the chance to decline a job if they have concerns in good faith without retaliation, Ziff says. Agencies would also have an obligation to work in the interest of the models and conduct “due diligence to ensure that the jobs and castings don't pose unreasonable risk of danger to the model.”
For the legislation to be truly effective, enforcement is key. Ziff says that if these rules are violated, the law would make it so models have legal recourse. According to her, the law would “impose civil penalties on management companies that violate their responsibilities under the bill and empower the Attorney General to hold management companies accountable for repeated violations. It would also allow models to file a complaint with the labor commissioner, and decline to participate in a casting or booking due to good faith concerns about a potential violation, without retaliation.” Models would also have the ability to take private legal action.
“We're relieved that the law will be on our side. We will be able to help people who come to us who have a problem, and hopefully this is going to prevent a lot of abuse,” Ziff says. The law would only apply to New York state, however, the city is a major player in the multi-trillion dollar industry. Ziff hopes to set a precedent by not only highlighting how legislation can change exploitation in fashion but also allow models to understand that they have rights and can push back in uncomfortable situations.
