Carré Otis, Alyssa Sutherland, and More Supermodel-Actors Back The Fashion Workers Act Ahead of Oscars Weekend

NEW YORK, NY (03/08/2024) (readMedia)-- On Friday, ahead of the upcoming Academy Awards, fashion models and actors joined the Model Alliance during a virtual press conference to shed light on the significant absence of basic labor protections within the modeling industry. Former supermodels who transitioned into acting including Carré Otis, Alyssa Sutherland, Michelle De Swarte, and Lyndsey Scott urged New York lawmakers to pass the Fashion Workers Act: a pro-labor state bill that would regulate predatory management companies in New York that currently operate without oversight in the $2.5 trillion fashion industry.

Like actors, models struggle for professional dignity behind a veil of glamor and prestige, but the fashion industry infamously lacks significant regulatory oversight, leaving models light years behind other industries. With so much overlap in the modeling and entertainment industries, many models who just recently participated in the SAG strike last year are also calling on lawmakers to take action and ensure workplace protections for the thousands of models working in New York.

Watch a recording of the press conference here.

"After spending decades as a model, with a brief foray into acting, it is clear to me that fashion is far behind when it comes to the basic rights and protections in other industries. Models - often very young girls - are forced to normalize financial exploitation and related sexual abuse. This shouldn't be normal. That's why I'm advocating for the Fashion Workers Act: because there is no reason why models should be carved out of protections that already exist for actors." said model Carré Otis.

"While models and actors are both fighting for professional dignity in the workplace, the lack of legal framework in the fashion industry leaves models far less protected than actors. It's difficult for many models to thrive when they cannot so much as access their own contracts with their clients or have transparency into their own finances. Models deserve to be protected as workers just like anyone else who works in the entertainment industry, and so I'm urging lawmakers who supported actors and writers during their strike to show the same support for models by passing the Fashion Workers Act this session." said Sara Ziff, Founder and Executive Director of the Model Alliance.

"I was a model for 15 years before I pivoted to acting and during that time I lived under constant fear and simply never felt safe. My life was dictated by an agency that made $8000 a month cramming 8 girls into a tiny two bedroom apartment, considered anything I borrowed an advance with an additional 5% interest added, and essentially cut me off from the possibility of earning money because they told me I needed to lose weight. When I became an actor I was shocked to have a safety net, where my talent management, agent, and lawyer were all working in my best interest. While I consider myself one of the lucky ones, I continue to advocate for the Fashion Workers Act because models deserve to work under a regulated system that makes it a standard practice to value physical and emotional safety." said model and actress Alyssa Sutherland.

"As a model, actor, and software engineer, modeling was the only industry where my agents wouldn't allow me to see my contracts. When my model career took off, I became exposed to the constant abuse of management companies, and when my agency terminated my contract, they spread rumors about me in retaliation. I am in support of the Fashion Workers Act because it addresses models' most current concerns, including the rising threat of AI, which we can't let replace or manipulate models in the industry without our permission. It's an important, pivotal step towards reforming an industry resistant to change and restoring power to its rightful owners: its workers." said model and actress Lyndsey Scott

"Most of us are children when we start modeling and when I was in the industry, I never had agency over my finances. The fashion industry is hyper aware of the selling power of youth and they use that same power of youth to silence you. Now as an actor, comedian, and executive producer, I feel comfortable to speak about the trauma I faced while modeling. I am supporting the Fashion Workers Act because I stand with models currently in the industry who lack agency over their finances and bodies, and have no safe way to speak up about it." said model and actress Michelle de Swarte.

"When I work an acting job, I know I can expect to be treated with dignity and respect. But unfortunately, I can't say the same for modeling. The Fashion Workers Act would finally create basic labor protections that are long overdue, like having insight into our own contracts with our clients and safeguarding us against harassment, discrimination, and unsafe working conditions. I'm proud to support this legislation because I believe it will create a better, safer industry for everyone, and I encourage others to do the same." said model and actress Milla Jovovich

Fashion is a booming business for New York – New York's Fashion Week alone generates close to $600 million in income each year for the State. And yet, fashion workers – in particular, the models who are literally the faces of the industry – are not afforded basic labor protections in New York. The Fashion Workers Act – which last year passed in the New York State Senate – would close this loophole and create basic protections for fashion's creative workforce.

Unlike talent agencies which manage actors, modeling agencies are considered to be management companies under New York State General Business Law §171(8), known as the "incidental booking exception," allowing them to escape licensing and regulation. In almost every case, management companies are granted blanket "power of attorney" as part of their agreement to represent models, giving management companies power to accept payments on behalf of the model, deposit checks and deduct expenses, as well as book jobs, negotiate the model's rate of pay, and give third parties permission to use the model's image, while having no obligation to act in their talents' best interests.

This leaves models unprotected outside the terms of their individual contracts – which tend to be exploitative and one-sided in favor of the management company – and creates a lack of transparency and accountability when it comes to basic issues like health and safety and having insight into one's own finances. For example, models often don't know whether and how much they'll be paid for jobs booked through management companies, which deduct various unexplained fees from their earnings, in addition to a 20 percent commission from the model and a 20 percent service fee from the client. Model management companies crowd young models in model apartments, where they warehouse anywhere from six to 10 young women in one apartment and charge them each upwards of $2,000 a month for an apartment worth far less. Models are held to multi-year, auto-renewing contracts without any guarantee of actually being booked paid work, which ensnares them in cycles of debt and makes models highly vulnerable to other forms of abuse, including human trafficking. When models experience abuse, they do not have a safe channel to file work-related grievances without a risk of retaliation.

The Fashion Workers Act would address these issues by closing the legal loophole by which management companies escape accountability and create basic protections for the models and content creators who are the faces of New York's fashion industry.

The Fashion Workers Act would require management companies to:

• Establish a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of their talent
• Provide models with copies of contracts and agreements
• Notify formerly represented models if they collect royalties on their behalf
• Register and deposit a surety bond of $50,000 with the NYS Department of State
• Protect the health and safety of models, including by establishing a zero-tolerance policy for abuse
• Obtain clear written consent for the creation or use of a model's digital replica, detailing the scope, purpose, rate of pay, and duration of such use

And discontinue bad practices such as:

• Presenting power of attorney as a necessary condition for entering into a contract with the management company
• Collecting signing fees or deposits from models
• Charging models interest on payment of their earnings
• Charging more than the daily fair market rate for accommodation
• Deducting any other fee or expense than the agreed upon commission
• Renewing the contract without the model's affirmative consent
• Imposing a commission fee greater than twenty percent of the model's compensation
• Taking retaliatory action against a model for filing a complaint
• Engaging in discrimination or harassment of any kind against a model on the basis of race, ethnicity, and other legally permissible categories under Section 296(a) of the Executive Law.
• Creating, altering, or manipulating a model's digital replica using artificial intelligence without clear written consent from the model.

The Fashion Workers Act would require clients to:

• Provide overtime pay for work that exceeds eight consecutive hours
• Provide a meal break for work that exceeds eight consecutive hours
• Allow the model to be accompanied by a chaperone
• Provide liability insurance to cover the health and safety of models
• Protect the health and safety of models, including by establishing a zero-tolerance policy for abuse
• Obtain clear written consent for the creation or use of a model's digital replica, detailing the scope, purpose, rate of pay, and duration of such use

And discontinue bad practices such as:

• Engaging in discrimination or harassment of any kind against a model on the basis of race, ethnicity, and other legally permissible categories under Section 296(a) of the Executive Law
• Creating, altering, or manipulating a model's digital replica using artificial intelligence without clear written consent from the model.

About the Model Alliance

Founded in 2012, the Model Alliance has been at the forefront of advancing labor rights in the fashion industry for the last decade. Through strategic research, policy initiatives, and campaigns, the Model Alliance aims to promote fair treatment, equal opportunity, and more sustainable practices in the fashion industry, from the runway to the factory floor. The Model Alliance has championed multiple pieces of legislation, including the Child Model Act in New York and the Talent Protections Act in California. The organization also runs the world's only industry-specific support line, MA Support. In 2021, the organization received the first Positive Social Influence Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America at the CFDA Awards.