Models in Britain are banding together to form a union that would give them the same protection as actors in order force the fashion industry to adopt “clearer and fairer working rights.” Models often follow the industries unspoken rule to be seen but not heard for fear that their agencies will drop them if they speak out against the treatment they are receiving. Treatment that includes but is not limited to, long hours without breaks, no say in nude shoots and the application of toxic materials to their bodies. Perhaps the industries cruel behavior towards its own can most visibly seen in recent years as the “size zero trend” has become the norm, with consequences that have models dying on the catwalk
The gaunt, blank eyed, anonymous model that has captured the hearts and minds of designers recently has left me nostalgic for the bombshell supermodels of the nineties. These models were curvy, sexy and powerful, becoming celebrities in their own right. So what happened? Why don’t we want to celebrate women that look healthy? Why instead are we forcing models to put their health in jeopardy in order to look like a holocaust victim? Is it the waning soul of a fat and overindulgent society? Perhaps the anguish felt by the world as we pillage its natural resources and assault its people? Or maybe it’s just that the increasingly homogeneous designer is afraid that their models might become a little more interesting than they are. Whatever it is it can be sure that the treatment we give our models is as much a representation of the ugly side of fashion as it is the society that consumes and celebrates it.
http://fashionista.com/2007/12/models_unionize.php
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article3241922.ece
