Most of us prepare for Fashion Week with loads of caffeine, our most sartorial attire, and Instagram at the ready. But it turns out that the fashion industry isn't as glamorous as some might have us believe. Twnty-nine-year-old model Sara Ziff (pictured second from left) is gearing up for fashion week by launching her nonprofit Model Alliance, a group she founded to ensure that models and those in the fashion industry experience the same workplace standards as employees in any other career do.
"Most models start their adult careers as minors, and they labor in an unregulated business knowing that they are highly replaceable," Ziff told Reuters, noting that, often times, the industry gets away with ignoring child labor laws, financially exploiting models, and turning a blind eye to sexual abuse, which are issues she covered in her 2009 documentary, Picture Me.
The movement is being supported by influential names in the industry, such as the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and Diane Von Furstenberg, as well as high-profile models Doutzen Kroes, Coco Rocha, and Jenna Sauers.
"Change comes from action, and the Model Alliance can be a catalyst for change," CFDA Chief Executive Steven Kolb said.
The organization aims to secure backstage privacy in order to avoid unauthorized nude photography and to provide confidentiality in cases of sexual harassment.
"The idea of models organizing may seem frivolous or, worse, downright funny — models are certainly not the people you picture when you think of child labor or bad working conditions," Sauers said. "There's nothing funny about a work force that is overwhelmingly young, female, and impoverished, working for some of fashion's wealthiest, most powerful brands."
Text Alice Chen
Source Reuters
Image NBC
