Models fight back against agencies

They appear to be living the dream, walking the catwalks of Paris, New York and Milan in the most beautiful clothes money can buy. But behind the glamour and travel, many models are earning mere “pocket money”, tied by debt to agencies and afraid to admit what they owe.

Now Ekaterina Ozhiganova, a Paris catwalk regular, has co-founded the group Model Law to defend models’ rights.

“The worst thing is that it is impossible to talk about because in this industry people only want to work with ‘successful’ girls,” said 26-year-old Clara, who has appeared in Vogue and walked for uber-hip labels like Prada, Rick Owens and Comme des Garcons.

The London-based model, who is deeply in debt to her agencies in New York and Paris, only agreed to talk about the trap she and many of her colleagues are in if her name was changed, fearing she might never work again.

Other models said they were often paid in clothes and handbags and were “almost never paid” for fashion magazine shoots. Model Law, which was set this year in Paris, said debt was a bigger taboo than sexual harassment, referring to the #MeToo movement which has recently lifted the lid on abuse. Ozhiganova said it was time “to put an end to the years of abuse, dubious practices and the flouting of labour laws”.

Clara said that on her first Paris fashion week “my agency gave me a car (for castings) which I was sharing with other models from the big AirBnb apartment they put us in. Later I learned I was paying 300 euros ($350) a day for the driver. I had signed the contract and I was €3 000 (R49 400) in debt” by the end of the week.

Two highly experienced US models said East European and Brazilian girls get the rawest deal. – AFP