The glamorization of being a part of the modeling industry is an incredible paradox based on hidden facts from what truly occurs behind the scenes. In the CNNMoney documentary of "Shit Model Management," an Instagram account dedicated to exposing the dark side of the industry, an ex-fashion agent stated, “I would never let my son or daughter become a model.” Due to the reasons to be presented in this article, it is highly understandable why she feels this way.
In the documentary, a model presented her financial statements, involving payments for simple tasks such as getting her hair done for $75 along with additional payments that she was unaware of. This is important because the common person is not aware that models are being charged out of their own pockets when getting ready for a fashion show. It’s stated that often models will pay a lot of fees with additional commission expenses. To make matters worse, the model is not asked in advance when these deductions are being taken out of their income. A former model in the film industry horrifically claims that there are years when you can make a range of $5,000 to $200,000, which is a great gap.
You would think that because the modeling agency has such a huge percentage of female employees that there would be some sort of gender equality in the business of fashion; however, this is false. Business of Fashion has reported that, although the fashion industry’s composition of workers is more than 70% of women, women only hold 25 percent of the top positions in fashion firms. For instance, owners of luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior only includes one woman along with 11 men. The activist behind Shit Model Management believes because the fashion and modeling workforce consists of dominantly young women in which employees' concerns get degraded and dismissed.
Aside from financial dilemmas, fashion and modeling organizations also contribute to a lack of proper mental health care for their models and employees. Based on a study done in 2002 by the Model Alliance, 68.3 percent of models had admitted to suffering from depression and anxiety. This largely has to do with the hiring process and the unfair financial standards mentioned previously. Most of the models are young women (many still teenagers) that have jobs to book so that they can escape the debt in their financial statements. Other factors, like separation from family, loneliness, rejection and unpredictable schedules all play a role in the psychological suffering of the models. Not to mention the pressure of social media. It’s very apparent that social media has a severe influence on young people. Many wind up suffering low self-esteem and depression due to comparison issues. Other problems with social media, prevalent among youth, include obesity, internet addiction, sleep deprivation, Facebook depression, sexting, and cyberbullying. So, it is, of course, detrimental when your career views you as a more valuable client depending on how many followers or viewers you have.
Taking all of these factors into account, it is vital that companies in the fashion and modeling industry are at least financially transparent towards their workers.
