Federico Pignatelli, founder of The INDUSTRY Model Mgmt, Pier59 Studios and Founder of the Model’s Bill of Rights Addresses Important Safety Issue in New York City

Federico Pignatelli

New York City has long been established as the center of the fashion world. An estimated 900 fashion companies have their headquarters here, along with countless showrooms, and the city hosts over 75 major trade shows and fashion events. Employing 180,000 people, according to NYC.gov, 6% of the city’s workforce is in the industry, generating 10.9 billion in total wages. It’s an economic powerhouse, which makes it all the more remarkable that the modeling industry, a critical component of the overall fashion market, has grown largely unchecked for the last quarter of a century.

25 years ago, there were only a handful of modeling agencies with a tiny number of supermodels leading the pack. But today, the industry has exploded. There are now hundreds of agencies in the country and a larger number in New York City representing thousands of models in what amounts to a multi-billion dollar industry.

But it’s not all glitz and glamour. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, models earn $48,130 on average – a third of the average Manhattan salary. Models also often have to contend with safety issues, immigration threats, payment delays and blurred lines regarding legal work environments. In an effort to combat these issues, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation that recognized fashion models under the age of 18 as child performers in 2013. That same year the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) urged its members to set a minimum age of 16 for runway models.

And while the industry has made some high-visibility changes, the abuses continue to far outweigh the reforms.

Timeliness and transparency around payment is one of the most critical issues models have been facing over the years and still are today. To the layperson, it’s simple. You take a job, you do a job, you get paid for the job. But for models, it’s not quite that cut and dry. Year after year, model after model, we have seen significant delays in payments and complete lack of transparency when it comes to the structure and status of compensation. A model will go to a job, the agency will get paid and will take their commission, and then they will frequently use the remaining money to fund agency operations, salaries, rent and travel all prior to paying the talent.

Another issue that models face is lack of clarity surrounding their immigration status. A hot button issue in the news today, fashion models typically enter the United States on the H-1B3 visa or the O-1B visa. To skirt the arduous and costly process of applying for a visa, many agencies will bring their models to the US on a tourist visa and simply send them to work without proper documentation. This puts them at considerable risk of imprisonment, fines and deportation – effectively ending their career.

If a model is fortunate enough to gain the proper work visa and sponsorship by a US agency, they are frequently sent on jobs by their secondary or third agencies (often from overseas) that are not covered by the visa in place, again putting them at risk.

The largest issue, and most flagrant violation, however, is safety. A new report compiled by A.E.C. Consulting & Expediting Inc. shows that the vast majority of photo studios across New York have been operating illegally or partially illegally for many years. This blatant disregard for building and fire codes, licenses, zoning restrictions, and overall safety of the occupants makes the studios technically uninsurable, putting the occupants at considerable risk. An accident could have catastrophic consequences, not just for the individuals involved, but for the New York fashion industry as a whole. The list of offenders includes well-recognized and frequently used names including Milk Studios and Smashbox Studios.

It is only through empowerment of the models and education within the industry as a whole that anything can start to change in taking necessary and urgent actions. The days during which the modeling industry operated unchecked must stop now.