Fashion Models and SAG-AFTRA Actors Call for the Fashion Workers Act During New York Fashion Week

NEW YORK, NY (09/08/2023) (readMedia)-- On Friday, the Model Alliance will hold a press conference during New York Fashion Week to raise awareness of the absence of basic labor protections within the modeling industry, and urge the New York State Assembly to pass the Fashion Workers Act during the upcoming legislative session. SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America, East will join the Model Alliance to show support for the legislation.

Like actors, models are struggling for professional dignity behind a veil of glamor and prestige, but the fashion industry infamously lacks significant regulatory oversight. With so much overlap in the modeling and entertainment industries, many models participating in the SAG strike are also calling attention to how behind the modeling industry is in ensuring workplace protections. 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 – is a necessary step in ensuring models and content creators have basic protections and autonomy in the workplace.