Last week, Conde Nast cut ties with the controversial fashion photographer Terry Richardson over his history of sexual harassment allegations. The decision came hot on the heels of the Harvey Weinstein scandal which, at present, has seen more than 90 women come forward, accusing the former Hollywood producer of sexual harassment and assault.
For those not familiar with Richardson, he has worked for some of the most acclaimed glossies out there and has shot the likes of Amber Rose, Kate Moss and Beyonce. Yet he’s equally known for the numerous accusations made against him by models and notable women he’s worked with in the past.
“This is exactly what you’d expect from the three trillion dollar industry that insists on dragging its heels on just about every issue going, from diversity to ethical work practices.”
When Conde Nast released a statement that they were barring Richardson from all related publications, many wondered how it had taken them this long. The fact that he was known throughout the industry as something of a sex pest is nothing new — some of these allegations span as far back as 2001 and have been written about extensively over the years.
Yet this is exactly what you’d expect from the three trillion dollar industry that insists on dragging its heels on just about every issue going, from diversity on the runway and gender equality within executive positions, to ethical work practices and sustainable products.
For the fashion industry, Richardson is simply the tip of the deeply flawed fashion iceberg, with exploitation of models still one of the most contentious issues within the industry to date. As recently as yesterday, Vlada Dzyuba, a 14-year-old Russian model, died after participating in Shanghai Fashion Week. Reports say that exhaustion played a major role in the young girl’s death, though her agency in China denies this accusation. Whether it was or wasn’t exhaustion, however, this kind of mistreatment of models is nothing more than common practice.
In fact, a quick Google search on the subject of model exploitation yields pages upon pages of results, providing a small glimpse into the extent of the issue. One notable incident occurred earlier this year when casting director James Scully took to Instagram to slam the industry and its treatment of these young women at Paris Fashion Week. The viral post went as far as to name two of Scully’s colleagues who allegedly kept more than 150 models in an unlit stairway for more than three hours during a Balenciaga casting call.
“While 2017 has been lauded as one of the most ‘diverse’ fashion weeks in history, white, cis, able-bodied women still dominated the runways.”
The casting director also named and shamed high fashion brand Lanvin for a complete lack of diversity among its casted models, another issue the industry has been none too quick to tackle. While 2017 (specifically SS18) has been lauded as one of the most ‘diverse’ fashion weeks in history, with 30.2 per cent of all models across 266 major shows (London, Paris, New York and Milan) being women of colour according to The Fashion Spot’s ‘Diversity Report’, plainly put, white, cis, able-bodied women still dominated the runways by more than half.
In an attempt to address some of these matters, two of the largest French fashion giants, Kering (owners of Balenciaga) and LVMH, banned women’s size zero from casting requirements earlier this year. Likewise, the two conglomerates implemented a charter across all their brands during the SS 2018 show season, including always having an onsite therapist for models during shoots; providing a platform where models can make complaints directly to brands in case of an issue with an agency, director or brand; and ensuring models are provided transport home after 8pm.
“In an instance of deep irony, the ‘This is What a Feminist Looks Like’ t-shirt was revealed to be made in a sweatshop, where women workers were underpaid and slept 16 to a room.”
Whether these steps taken will result in actual change is yet to be seen. As of now, however, it’s difficult not to be cynical over the depths of these modifications, given the industry’s penchant for commodifying issues. We saw this with the matter of gender equality, which sparked the interest of the industry a few years back. Karl Lagerfeld equipped his models with placards proclaiming things like ‘Ladies First’, sending a ‘model protest’ down the runway to sell his SS15 Chanel collection. There was the rise in popularity of ‘This is What a Feminist Looks Like’ t-shirt, which, in an instance of deep irony, was revealed to be made in a sweatshop, where women workers were underpaid and slept 16 to a room.
Likewise, during SS17 Paris Fashion Week late last year, Dior’s artistic director sent shirts with ‘We Should All Be Feminists’ scrawled across the front down the runway - for $700 a pop. All of this showboating, yet as of September 2016, only 40.2 per cent of designers leading 313 brands surveyed by Business of Fashion were women. Likewise, the rate of women designers at fashion’s largest houses was even lower.
The barring of Richardson from Conde Nast publications is indeed a step in the right direction. And perhaps this is the beginning of the fashion world acknowledging the that there are those within the industry who use their positions of power to prey on vulnerable women. Given the industry’s track record, however, I’m hesitant to believe we’ll see any substantial change within the immediate future.
