Supermodel Beverly Johnson Rallies for Black Models' Rights Ahead of Fashion Week

NEW YORK, NY (02/04/2024) (readMedia)-- Ahead of New York Fashion Week – and during Black History Month – the Model Alliance held a press conference featuring supermodel Beverly Johnson to push for 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. Black models in particular face race-specific hurdles within the industry in getting jobs, compensation, and workplace protections. The rise of AI also poses new threats to workers, especially Black models, who are already dealing with tokenism, whitewashing and colorism. When models experience harassment and discrimination, they risk retaliation for speaking out.

Famously the first Black model featured on the cover of American Vogue, Beverly Johnson is currently starring in a one woman show, "In Vogue" that dives into her long standing career in the fashion industry.

A recording of the press conference can be found here.

Photos of the press conference can be found here.

"Fifty years ago I broke barriers by gracing the cover of Vogue magazine, becoming the first Black supermodel to achieve this milestone despite being repeatedly told that it was unattainable for a Black woman. Today, after decades in the fashion industry, the challenges of underrepresentation and inequality for Black models continues to persist, and it remains particularly difficult for Black survivors to speak out about abuse and be believed. The Fashion Workers Act is a critical first step in protecting Black fashion models: to provide every model with fundamental labor protections and ensure everyone is treated with dignity and respect," said supermodel Beverly Johnson.

"In an industry so infamous for lacking basic labor protections, models are left in a constant battle for stability and safety within the fashion world. And Black models face even greater challenges in navigating the industry to secure jobs, proper compensation, and safety in the workplace. With the rise of AI technology further threatening jobs available to models of color, the urgency for New York lawmakers to pass the Fashion Workers Act into law has never been greater. " said Sara Ziff, Founder and Executive Director of the Model Alliance.

The fashion industry notoriously operates without significant regulatory oversight, leaving models struggling to find their footing and stability in the fashion world. And the lack of protections makes it significantly more difficult for Black models to obtain jobs, compensation, and basic workplace protections within the industry. The Fashion Workers Act is a necessary step in ensuring models and content creators of color have basic protections as workers.

Due to the rise of artificial intelligence within the industry, the Model Alliance recently introduced new amendments to the Fashion Workers Act to specifically address the misuse of AI and its growing threat to models' working lives. But generative AI also raises specific issues of race and representation across the industry. Major brands like Levi's have touted their use of AI to supplement models of color in order to increase diversity in their campaigns, rather than hiring and paying diverse human models. It's no surprise the first AI generated Black model Shudu, who was created by a white man, is booking major brand deals with international companies like BMW, Louis Vuitton and Hyundai. Brands are quickly taking advantage of generative AI to appear inclusive, using Black AI models as tokens, rather than expanding opportunities for human Black models.

The use of AI technology also perpetuates colorism and blatant racism in an industry that already provides far more opportunities to white and lighter skinned models. Taiwanese-American model Shereen Wu – recently featured in a Guardian story – had her face replaced with an AI generated white woman, on top of her body after walking in a fashion show.

Background on the Fashion Workers Act:

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. Models are also often left in the dark about how their images will be used, which is particularly concerning in light of the rise of generative artificial intelligence. 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.