Trigger warning: Sexual assault
The fashion industry. One of the most advertised entertainment industries in today’s society but also one of the most dangerous. It is a fascinating juxtaposition: where the industry, much like the models, appears to be glamorous and beautiful but the horrors and perils that exist when you look beyond this façade are astonishing.
I think the more familiar issues with this industry deal with the prevalence of eating disorders and the image that is portrayed to society of the ideal body type and appearance. Or the controversy surrounding fast fashion and children being overworked and abused. However, there is also a lesser known and arguably even more alarming problem that has continued within the industry for years and doesn’t seem to have been resolved: the model’s worth and their exploitation.
A few months ago, during an Instagram scroll, I came across a post from a popular, for our generation, model that I have followed for years: Emily Ratajkowski. It explained that a top magazine had published her essay titled “Buying Myself Back”. Knowing that she is an articulate and intelligent woman as well as the fact that she is notoriously confident about her body (rightfully so), I was intrigued by the title mainly and clicked on the link to read. What followed was the total opposite of what I initially expected. Her essay commenced with a narrative of how she was sued for posting a paparazzi shot of herself on her own Instagram. It sounded strange to me, and I almost couldn’t wrap my head around the information because surely, she would be able to post any photos of herself on her own personal account as these paparazzi are making money from invading her privacy and photographing her?
Anyway, the entire essay is an interesting and worthwhile read but what struck me most in a horrible way was a story she shared from 2012, when she was a young model trying to make a living searching for work in order to pay off her university loan. She booked a job with a famous photographer, Jonathan Leder, who asked her to stay the night to do the photo shoot, which she writes is not uncommon. She describes the awful night spent at his house where he supplied her with too much alcohol (she was underage in New York at the time), asked her to pose nude as he took photographs and ended up sexually assaulting her. It’s repugnant, harrowing and chilling to read- to the extent where I had to put my phone down a few times to take a moment to compose myself. But I forced myself to finish reading the article, as this is unfortunately the reality of the fashion industry.
The line becomes interesting here between what Ratajkowski felt she had to do as part of her job and what was considered inappropriate and crossing that boundary. She was only twenty years old though. A naïve young woman as well as an up-and-coming model who was desperate to maintain a respectful and kind reputation in the industry amongst professionals who were in control of the success of her career. They had and still have the authority to ‘cancel’ her career even if they perceive her adversely on one occasion. I came across a quote from another model, Miranda Frum: “there’s a stigma in the industry that if you’re a model who speaks out, it means you just weren’t that good or you’re bitter.” Ratajkowski felt it was necessary to drink the wine Leder provided her with for fear that refusing it would make her seem immature, less of an adult and less likely to book more jobs. She adhered to his requests for fear that not doing so would be the end of her career and result in her penniless, unable to pay off her university student loan.
Incidents like this sadly occur almost on a daily basis for models and they go unnoticed, swept under the carpet as if it is part of the territory and what they signed up for when they chose this profession. They definitely did not sign up to be exploited in this manner. Not only did it take Ratajkowski eight years to be courageous enough to speak up about her dreadful experience, it also took a large audience and 27 million Instagram followers for her words to actually be heard. Still, she had backlash and plenty of people who thought she was making it up for attention. I can’t even imagine how much anxiety she had about readers not believing her which is what happens to so many victims, both male and female. I also cannot begin to fathom the number of times a similar event has happened to a model, those who have risen to fame and those who did not have the platform to speak up about being taken advantage of.
Over the Christmas holidays, on another Instagram scroll, I was tapping through an account called Shit Model Management. Now, this is also an account that I have followed for a while now and it usually consists of current models posting memes and jokes about the industry, an honest source of humour that always makes me laugh. But this day was different. The owners of this account were revealing the truth, not comically but in an indignant, blunt and uncompromising manner, about one famous fashion designer: Alexander Wang. There were countless (and I mean countless) stories that were being shared. As they increased, more and more people would direct message their own experience and then these circulated. It seemed never-ending as I digested every one of them. They were all just absolutely sickening and horrendous. It became apparent to me that there was no way these fabricated, convoluted stories. They were far too detailed with crossover experiences to be a figment of someone’s imagination. Add that on to the fact that none of these victims were well-known models so it couldn’t have been a case of attention seeking. Every single story confirmed that Alexander Wang was a predator.
But the response is what was even more shocking. These accusations emerged a couple days after Wang’s birthday, as because he was already trending, people started to share their hostile experiences with him. On that day, numerous models posted birthday wishes for him on social media but the minute these claims surfaced (which ended up being widely distributed in publications like Vogue, Elle etc), there was utter silence. It seemed as if celebrities like Bella Hadid and Kaia Gerber had vanished off the planet entirely when just days before, they were celebrating him and his endless generosity and love. Silence really is the loudest noise. Wang turned his comments off as his Instagram posts were becoming drowned in comments about his dreadful actions. No high-calibre models have addressed the scandal at all in any way, but they have previously supported victims of other incidents. The definition of performative activism.
He wasn’t ‘cancelled’ from the industry, however. His reputation was slightly hindered by the significant depletion of fans and followers, but it seems likely to me that by the time that the next Fashion Week rolls around, his new clothing line will be a success and these allegations will be forgotten about. A large part of this is due to the fact that many of his victims were male models who are expected to stay silent and are less likely to be believed in comparison to female. Time and time again, their stories are neglected in the conversations about the #MeToo movement and more.
The reason why the fashion industry is so prone to incidents like this is because there is such a fine line between right and wrong. The average model enters the industry at a mere 16.8 years old, an age that is easy to be taken advantage of due to innocence, particularly when they’re working with professionals who are decades older than them. It can range from being forced to undress in front of a photographer or blatant sexual assault, such as the case with Ratajkowski and Wang’s victims. An image exists in the industry where male photographers and designers are revered as god-like, powerful men and the models are their meek, submissive prey. Such a long-lasting image is difficult to break down and it makes you contemplate about how many times this has happened and the trauma it has inflicted on the victims.
The non-profit organisation, Model Alliance, was established in 2012 by former model, Sara Ziff, to give models a voice in their work. They ‘aim to promote fair treatment, equal opportunity, and more sustainable practices in the fashion industry, from the runway to the factory floor’ because as some of the most prominent figures in the world, models have the power to change the industry for the better. For this particular issue, the Model Alliance offers a contact support that is confidential and is a method of reporting incidents if asked. Records are kept of continued predators so more informed decisions and consideration can be made when a model goes to work for a new employer. They also offer other points of contact and organisations that support victims and offer legal support should they want to press charges.
This hazard of the fashion industry is not spoken about often for reasons that it undermines the allure and appeal of what it looks like and depicts those prestigious professionals in a negative light. It’s terrifying to think about the myriad of unsaid personal stories that exist and are being emotionally grappled with every single day.
Update: I wrote this article for my school magazine, which I started, at the beginning of 2021. I’m publishing this in April 2022 and since then, Emily Ratajkowski has released her book titled “My Body” which eloquently delves into these issues (and more), and I would highly recommend it. Also, Alexander Wang had his first runway show just a couple days ago since the allegations, and my predictions were correct. His collection was not overshadowed by the accusations, and it even featured top models such as Adriana Lima and Candice Swanepoel.
No Blank Spaces 