{"id":53716,"date":"2018-05-10T13:03:31","date_gmt":"2018-05-10T17:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/models.com\/mdx\/?p=53716"},"modified":"2018-05-24T12:26:22","modified_gmt":"2018-05-24T16:26:22","slug":"heres-what-models-had-to-say-on-changing-the-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/models.com\/mdx\/heres-what-models-had-to-say-on-changing-the-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Here&#8217;s what models had to say on changing the industry"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>\nbody {color:black;}\n#content {max-width: 1280px;margin: auto;padding: 0 20px;}\n#content div.post p {padding:0;}\n#content div.post h3 {\nfont-size: 1.4rem;\n    text-align: center;\n    margin: 90px 20px 5px 20px;\n    color: black;\n    border-top: 4px solid;\n    padding-top: 100px;\n}\n.introbox {margin:60px 0 10px 0;font-weight:300;font-size:20px;text-align:center;padding:80px;clear:both;}\n.introbox, .introcredits, .txtbox {font-family:'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;}\n.introcredits {font-size:16px;}\n.introtxt {text-align:justify !important;margin:80px 40px;line-height:1.6;}\n.introbox .title {font-size:6rem;color:black;text-transform:uppercase;text-align:center;}\n.separ {clear:both;}\n.notes {font-size:.7em;color:#999;margin:20px 0;}\n.pullquote {font-size:1.7rem;text-align:center;margin: 10% 0;}\n.txtbox {width:50%;\n  font-family:'Neue Haas Unica W01', sans-serif;\n  max-width:640px;\n  margin:10% auto;\n  text-align:justify;\n}\n<\/style>\n<link type=\"text\/css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https:\/\/fast.fonts.net\/cssapi\/1ee7eecc-8318-40d7-9f60-2840770611c0.css\"\/>\n<!-- mdc set, L Futura W01,Linotype Didot W01,Neue Haas Unica W01 --><\/p>\n<div class=\"txtdiv\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"introbox\">\n<p>\t<span class=\"title\">Here&#8217;s what models had to say on changing the industry<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"introtxt\">\n<p>It\u2019s been a trying year for the industry, a year fraught with its share of daily facepalm moments amidst a larger social rumination. The conversation is manifold in its concern, from sustainability to #MeToo to gender inequalities to bygone views: read Karl\u2019s problematic Num\u00e9ro interview. Smack in the middle of the tumult are the models who can count themselves amongst the most vulnerable, irked and feeling disposable. Being a model shouldn\u2019t mean being sidestepped, misused or blindly keeping rank. Respect should be a default, period. Not only that, it should be ratified by the gatekeepers who fix the gold standard. Progress to this effect has been campaigned by the likes of Bethann Hardison, Edward Enninful, James Scully, Sara Ziff, Cameron Russell and others. No doubt there have been steps taken towards betterment \u2013 for example, The Model Alliance ensured private changing rooms for the models during this past New York Fashion Week. Models.com posed a question we thought worth asking: Models, what do you want changed in the industry? We quickly received scores of submissions and a certain consensus became clear that models are thirsty for fair and commonsense treatment in the workplace: at their agency, on set, backstage and on the runway. Here\u2019s an anonymous selection of what they said&#8230;\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"notes\">\nThe testimonies below are an edited and representative sample of responses to the April 2018 Models.com &#8220;Models! What do you want changed in the industry?&#8221; survey. Testimonies have been edited for spelling and brevity.<br \/>\nVerified testimonies below are from working professional models that Models.com was able to verify via the Instagram API or from follow up emails.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:both;padding:80px 0 0 0;text-align:center;\" id=\"mdc-top-newcomers\">\n<p>\t<a href='#getting-paid'>Getting Paid<\/a><br \/>\n\t<a href='#protocol'>Protocol and Treatment<\/a><br \/>\n\t<a href='#diversity'>Diversity<\/a><br \/>\n\t<a href='#health'>Health and Body Image<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"separ\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"txtbox\">\n<h3 id=\"getting-paid\">Getting Paid<\/h2>\n<p>Across the board, many models in the industry felt that the payment system in the industry was severely outdated. With no set salaries, many models operate under the guise of \u201cindependent contractors\u201d with little to no assurance of timely payment, if at all. Agencies have threatened or withheld funds if models wanted to leave because of mismanagement. Clients have delayed or refused payments, leaving agencies to foot the bill. In short, the ambiguity of prompt payment seems in direct contrast to fashion being a capitalist industry that benefits off of materialism.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;We spend hours waiting for clients to see us and they don\u2019t value our time so I would like for it to become common practise that after a certain time period models get paid for waiting for a client to see them.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;One thing I feel should change is how models are paid for jobs, most of us are following this career with very little money and between traveling and food it can become costly very quickly. I have talked to a lot of models over the past year about how they are paid because I&#8217;m genuinely curious and most of them are open to talking about it because I find they are also upset over the topic. Most girls complained that many of the jobs they booked they have not been paid for either months or weeks, sometimes years. I understand that this is how the industry works, but we have to think of all the girls coming from no money fighting for a career that are doing this not only because they like it but because they also need a job.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;I would like to not get paid 3 months after the job simply because the agency is keeping the money to pay others first when I know for a fact the client paid net 30.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;Paying models with a delay of several months is an abuse of power and it is an illegal practice. The agency is responsible for the performance of the contract regardless of whether or not the client has paid. It is the law.&#8221;<\/div>\n<h3 id=\"protocol\">Protocol and Treatment<\/h3>\n<p>The instituting of more clear-cut and accommodating labor agreements could curb mistreatment, abuse, and inconsiderate treatment and is by far one of the most common sense steps towards modernizing the model workplace. Transparency and stricter age limits could prevent manipulative practices or check iffy situations for those not equipped to navigate them. Small steps like providing changing rooms for models backstage or hiring hair stylists experienced with different hair types may sound trivial but can reverberate into more fundamental respect and lead to the building of a more comprehensive safety net.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;I don\u2019t understand why I still ALWAYS have to cover myself when I am trying to change backstage at shows. We have NO privacy at all. Everyone can walk in and out the changing area, and if I ask a photographer or filmmaker to leave because my colleagues and I are changing, they get really angry at me because they feel like I\u2019m attacking them for something. &#8220;I am not even filming you! &#8221; &#8220;I am here for the house&#8221; I don\u2019t care, we just don\u2019t want you to be around us while we are getting changed!&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;Behaviour I find unacceptable is casting directors and\/or brands treating models as if we aren\u2019t humans with feelings.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;I hate when they let photographers in while we change. We\u2019re naked and there are some photographers taking photos of models&#8230; I think this is unacceptable. I am very happy to see that the average age of a model has gone up but still a long way to go to reach a true versatility and healthy balance.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;As a teen model in the industry which I have been myself, you are easily manipulated into signing unfair contracts, cheated with payments and disrespectfully treated at work. Being so young you just simply don&#8217;t have the courage to speak up and ask questions, have an opinion. You almost feel as if you owe your agents and clients something for working with you. I honestly think an internationally working model should be 18+ only!&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;I know this could shock a lot of people but I think the minimum age for modeling (especially runway) should be 18. They are fucking kids\/teens still and the pressure is crazy. That&#8217;s one reason why the level of respect towards models is so low because we don\u2019t feel we have a voice or even an understanding of what is happening around us. Most haven\u2019t even had a job prior to modeling so they have no clue what a workplace should be like. We just begin to learn that this is what it\u2019s like to be a model. The crazy call times, lack of privacy, the demand on our bodies, constant rejection and comparison etc.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;Many behaviors are unacceptable, but there isn\u2019t a rule of conduct that everyone must follow and who determines what level is appropriate or not. Some models don\u2019t care if you lift their skirt up to grab the shirt underneath without asking, others do. There are two sides to every story. I just think you need to see it from the model&#8217;s perspective and treat them as a person, not as a \u201cthing\u201d. Also, just ask them if they don\u2019t mind? TAKING PHOTOS OF A MODEL OR SURROUNDING MODELS WHILE THEY ARE DRESSING IS NOT OKAY!!!!! It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s just of a shoe. Or an earring. Or you won\u2019t use it. I\u2019ve seen this happen way too many times and had it happen to me too many times. It is not okay.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;&#8230;the lack of hair stylists that do not know how to work on ethnic hair for male models. I asked for a simple brush one time before I went on the runway and the stylist looked at me like I was crazy and gave me a comb brush, even though I have a low cut. These people have zero respect for black models, they want to work with long hair only. We don\u2019t just roll out of bed and walk on the runway! Our hair must be taken care of just as much.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;I think we deserve the same rules and regulations as people working in other jobs and I&#8217;d like to know that I have a right to sit down for five minutes, drink some water and eat (because yes models do eat). On that note, I think clients should provide healthy food options, especially in locations where nothing is around. Simple rules regarding work hours, required breaks, and food being provided would make a huge difference. I&#8217;d also like more honesty and fairness with agency fees.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;The way people treat us is absurd, like we mean nothing, like we\u2019re garbage. They forget we\u2019re all alone young girls trying to make a living like everyone else, but since we\u2019re \u201cpretty\u201d we cannot complain otherwise we\u2019d be just bitching.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;Yanking and damaging hair in order to get the job done faster. I&#8217;ve seen models come out of fashion week with bald spots because hair stylists can be as rough as they want to get the job done on time&#8230;&#8221;<\/div>\n<h3 id=\"diversity\">Diversity<\/h3>\n<p>The subject of diversity in fashion stands as an extensive pillar of disgruntlement. The fashion industry sells a lifestyle of luxurious perfection yet, up until very recently, who was included in that narrative was normally painted as tall, skinny, and white. For those outside that singular description, with coins to spend, fashion runways and billboards have fallen short of expectations. As the industry moves to rectify racial biases, many models call for further pushes of diversity in skin color, gender identity, and height. <\/p>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;&#8230;we\u2019re still blindly living in the eyes of colorism.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;My former agency not supporting its black models as much as it supports the other models it represents (e.g not being sent to castings because of skin color). In fact, I can confidently say that most of the jobs I got while with the agency, I got them not because they represented me well, but because of all the networking I did. All models should be supported and represented equally.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;Other than all the shit that came along with the #metoo movement (which I\u2019ve also had my fair share of) the biggest thing that worried me was how rampant homophobia is in this industry (even from people in the industry who are gay themselves) the amount of times bookers &#038; managers have tried to \u201chelp\u201d me tone down my \u201cgayness\u201d is revolting&#8230;&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;I would like to end the whole idea of a 34&#8243; hip. For most models, this is difficult to maintain and can often be unhealthy. I&#8217;ve had agents tell me that it&#8217;s so I can fit sample size, yet almost every shoot I&#8217;ve been to, the clothes hang off me and have to be clipped.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;The height requirement is the thing that I want to see a change in. Even though the industry can\u2019t or hardly accepts people that are really small, it wouldn\u2019t hurt to loosen up a little and make that 6ft mark less strict.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;There are so many things that need to be changed in the modeling industry but I feel like it is going to take time because some people do not want to accept change. Such as designers hiring hair stylists that are not trained to do POC hair or makeup when they could just hire someone who does. I have had situations where I have had to argue with hairstylists because they had no clue what they were doing with my hair&#8230;All models should feel like they are being represented and respected.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;More plus size and different bodies used in campaigns and runway in high fashion. Actual body inclusivity, not just a token plus size body.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;I&#8217;m a brown skin male, and whenever it comes to having a MUA on set, they don&#8217;t even have my shade or they don&#8217;t know how to do my hair. First off I&#8217;m medium brown. The fact that they don&#8217;t have MY shade is a huge problem because I&#8217;m not even that dark which proves how the industry caters to lighter\/white models.&#8221;<\/div>\n<h3 id=\"health\">Health and Body Image<\/h3>\n<p>A longstanding stigma in the modeling industry, the issues of models&#8217; health is complete with just as much truth as it is misnomer. A highly critical environment created by clients, designers, and agencies, as well as social media scrutiny, can take a mental and physical toll on models\u2019 bodies and minds as they strive to stay in demand. Preventing eating disorders, depression and negative body image starts with underpinning said demand with a hardline focus on wellbeing and the slackening of harmful expectations.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;There needs to be a certain BMI that girls must meet to model so that those who do are at or almost at a healthy weight. Models&#8217; health needs to come first.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;It should be mandatory for agencies to have an option for health and dental care programs for models; there are too many people who lose out on possible fruitful careers due to ongoing untreated illness.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;If the majority of people within ANY industry had a similar level of empathy [as my agency] towards mental and physical health there would be a huge shift in our evolution.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;Also I do not want to hear I am too fat or what is the problem with your skin. It is normal that when you get your period that you look a bit puffy or get a few pimples. I know it is our job to take care of our body and face and make sure it looks its best all the time, but still, everybody has her\/his days, where they have some issues and do not want to hear, they look like shit or whatever.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;What concerns me the most and I would love for girls to speak up more about is the eating disorder issue&#8230;ALL of my model friends admitted to me they have had some kind of eating disorder at some point in their career and most of them were still struggling with it. That made me realize how bad it is and how little clients and agents talk and care about the well being of models.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;Models must understand that an agency is a working partner, neither an employer nor a boss, and act accordingly. The relationship between models and their agency needs to be clarified, and the balance of power should be rethought.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;Before signing any contract with an agency, (there should be) an obligatory briefing by the agency\u2019s lawyer and accountant. A training program for the personnel of the agency: knowing and understanding the laws and the procedures they apply daily is a good starting point, especially taken into account the fact that if a model has a question, he or she usually turns to the booker. Educating models themselves on their duties and rights. We should not underestimate the fact that many young inexperienced people accept and will continue to accept unfair and dangerous working conditions due to the misinterpretation of the profession, and the aura of \u201cindustry of fantasy\u201d it has.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">&#8220;There definitely should be more organizations (like Model Alliance) for models to go to when they have been sexually assaulted, haven\u2019t been paid, or have been mistreated at casting\/sittings\/agency and there should be more health regulations to make sure models are being healthy and encourage them to take better care of themselves . Maybe a health coach\/ nutritionists organized by an agency for models to talk to and get knowledge from.&#8221;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"separ\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s what models had to say on changing the industry It\u2019s been a trying year for the industry, a year fraught with its share of daily facepalm moments amidst a larger social rumination. The conversation is manifold in its concern, from sustainability to #MeToo to gender inequalities to bygone views: read Karl\u2019s problematic Num\u00e9ro interview. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":53769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[155,2129,1538],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/mdx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53716"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/mdx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/mdx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/mdx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/mdx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53716"}],"version-history":[{"count":57,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/mdx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53765,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/mdx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53716\/revisions\/53765"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/mdx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/mdx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/mdx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/mdx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}