How one catwalker keeps her stylish feet planted firmly on the ground.
A passion for community-building and fighting climate change pushes Áine Rose Campbell forward.
In an Instagram post from late February, New Yorkbased model Áine Rose Campbell strikes a pose while standing on top of a landfill. The photo was snapped on a trip she took with two other models to learn more about waste from the sustainability-focused design lab Slow Factory and is accompanied by copy that includes a list of statistics about the amount of garbage we produce. “I would highly recommend going to a landfill,” says Campbell. “It’s absolutely fascinating.”
Campbell’s interest in the climate crisis has intensified during her decade-plus career as a model, and so has her activism around better working conditions and the treatment of models and makers in the garment industry. Scouted by Storm (the agency that discovered Kate Moss) in her native U.K., she founded Beyond the Runway in 2015 in an effort to help educate models on how to develop skills applicable to career paths they might follow after their catwalking days. The network she has nurtured grounds her within an industry that is in constant flux. “I’ve found a huge amount of fulfillment in organizing and creating community,” she says. “You have to have something that will stabilize you and that provides an alternative identity to being a model.”
While the 33-year-old has bolstered this concept for herself by working as a project management and career development consultant for musician Jon Batiste, her awareness of the potential for change in the fashion industry has translated into another outlet for her boundless energy. In 2017, she cofounded Model Mafia with fellow model and activist Cameron Russell. The group mobilizes online and at events ranging from political rallies to information sessions about garment workers’ rights led by organizations like BRAC (formerly the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee). Outreach provided by Campbell and crew also extends to the COVID-19 crisis; online programming for Model Mafia was created so members can stay connected and host Instagram Live yoga and meditation practices as well as cooking classes. A fund was also set up so that models can apply for financial assistance as much of the industry’s production is in flux. Campbell notes that the outlet is a meaningful one for those who are seeking to incite change in a slow-moving industry. “There is a tension for models when they understand that they want to work for brands that are sustainable but they can’t because they don’t get enough money from these brands,” she says.
Now represented by the ethically focused talent agency Role Models, Campbell has worked for sustainably minded clients including the Red Carpet Green Dress organization and eco brand Yes And. She was also part of the “protest” fashion show organized by unisex upcycling apparel brand Zero Waste Daniel that took place in February. The interactive event involved models being situated in different rooms within the Arcadia Earth museum in Manhattan. “I held a protest sign and asked the question ‘Do you know who killed fashion?’ to the people who walked in,” says Campbell. In the show’s final room, designer Daniel Silverstein revealed that it was greed that killed fashion, and to counter this notion, the brand donated a portion of the proceeds from the ticketed event (it was not by invitation only, as most fashion week events are) to Oceana, an international ocean conservation advocacy organization. Campbell’s communal-mindedness has led her to many kindred spirits like Silverstein—a particular boon given that in the early days of her career, she felt displaced within the modelling world because of her ChineseBritish background. “At the time, there wasn’t a lot of diversity in the industry,” she explains. “People were interested in me, but they didn’t really know what to do with me. Then there was a big ‘Asian wave,’ but people were like, ‘Well, you’re not really Asian enough.’” Now, though, Campbell is right where she belongs.