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The Model Manifesto: An A-Z anti-exploitation manual for the fashion industry
264Overview
For such a beautiful industry, there is a lot of ugly behind the scenes in modelling.
Exploitation has always existed in the fashion industry, because it is so aspirational. By cutting through the smoke and mirrors, The Model Manifesto empowers and educates models to take control of their lives into their own hands and educates the public on the reality of what's involved in modelling. Leanne Maskell has drawn on her 13 years of experience working as an international model together with her legal background to create this easy-to-understand, A-Z guide in order to end exploitation of vulnerable models and wanna-be models.
With contributions from top industry experts, The Model Manifesto includes solid advice on everything from mental health issues to paying tax. It covers every aspect of the modelling industry in detail to give an honest and realistic insider view, covering both the highs and the lows.
The way to end the exploitation and the ugly in the industry is by education, awareness and building change from the inside out.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781788600651 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Alison Jones Business Services Ltd |
| Publication date: | 05/02/2019 |
| Pages: | 264 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.55(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
THE MOST IMPORTANT part of your career as a model is having an agency that protects you. An agency finds its models work with reputable clients, negotiates contracts for each job and ensures that it is paid, taking a commission from models' earnings in return.
The agency works for the model – the model doesn't work for the agency. This is something that is often forgotten as many models unwittingly sign incredibly unfair contracts and are heavily taken advantage of by exploitative agencies.
It is very difficult to understand which model agencies are legitimate because there is currently no government regulation monitoring model agencies specifically as models are recognised as self-employed in the UK. The British Fashion Model Agents Association is accepted as a good guide, with stringent requirements on its members, but its membership list is not exhaustive of all of the legitimate model agencies currently operating in the UK and therefore not fully representative.
In this chapter, I will explain how to recognise a fraudulent model agency, how to join a legitimate one and the relationship that models have with their model agencies. As your agents are the gatekeepers to your work, your relationship with them is very important – which means it can often be used to exploit you.
Did you know?
1. There are no official requirements to start up a model agency or become a model booker.
2. Employment agencies were licensed until 1994, but these were removed with the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994. Today the only employment agencies requiring licensing are those involving agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering, forestry, food processing/packaging, nursing and domiciliary care agencies.
3. Legitimate agencies will never require you to pay any money to join them or before finding you work.
4. You don't need a portfolio to join a model agency.
5. Many model agency contracts assign the models' power of attorney to their agency, meaning they can act legally and financially on their models' behalf.
How to choose an agency
It is very difficult to work as a professional model even with an agency, let alone without one! Model agencies have expertise within the industry and contacts to promote their models to. They also act as a vital protector of the model – ensuring jobs and clients are legitimate and that the model will be paid. Good agencies will help models strategise their careers and get them work.
A model's first agency will usually be their 'mother agency'. This means that all work a model does has to go via them and they will have the final say on decisions regarding the model. Mother agencies contract their models out to other agencies around the world and earn a portion of their income, no matter where they are working.
There are small, independent mother agencies who don't get a model any jobs but simply contract them out to other agencies. While a few mother agencies may have good relationships with bigger agencies, as they will earn a percentage of the models' earnings for their entire careers, agencies prefer to represent models wholly by themselves. If you are scouted by someone claiming to be a mother agent such as this, it is always advisable to visit legitimate, official model agencies yourself. Otherwise you are giving a complete stranger a measure of control over your life and a portion of your income for doing nothing at all!
In such a sparse, global industry, a model's agent is often a form of identity for them. They become their family, owing to the young age of models and unique nature of the job. It is important to choose the right one for you, because your agency will determine your career.
It is important to first identify the reasons you want to become a model (money? fame? fashion?) and your realistic prospects (it is incredibly hard even if you have all of the requirements, but different areas are more niche than others). You can then research agencies and actively choose your own, rather than 'falling' into the industry and joining the first one that says yes.
A big agency will not always provide a level of supermodel success. Personally, I have always worked better as a 'big fish in a small pond', with smaller, more commercial agencies as opposed to a big pond of top fishes. You will be competing first and foremost against all of the models in your agency – for your agent's attention – and then at castings.
Different agencies have different client relationships, but ultimately all of the relatively successful agencies stand a similar chance of booking work for models. It is now a global market, with clients booking through social media, apps and the internet as opposed to a few limited agencies.
Ultimately it is a free market, and you have to go for the agency that feels right for you, not for what looks like the best. Judge an agency by its reputation, the feel of the bookers and, most importantly, the contract. The contract is the one thing the agency cannot 'gloss over', so it is vitally important to always have a lawyer read it, as can be seen in the chapter 'L is for Legal'.
How to spot a fraudulent agency
With social media, it is easier than ever for aspiring models to fall victim to fraudulent model agencies. There are thousands of agencies operating globally who can access vulnerable children at any time to suggest modelling to them, bamboozling them with false claims and scamming them out of money. Even seemingly legitimate, well-known model agencies can be acting fraudulently, as they undergo no specific checks by the government other than those relating to general employment agencies.
The modelling industry is completely different to any other – agencies can tell models how to look, where to live and what jobs to do. Agents have total control due to the expert knowledge they hold at arms' length from their models. Joining an exploitative agency is catastrophic as a result.
The test for whether an agency is exploitative is if there is a transparent relationship between the agency and the model – whether the model is being lied to, either directly or by being deliberately misled.
Signs of a fraudulent model agency may include
• Offers to 'advise you on your potential', 'assess your career' or provide 'a route into modelling'. Describes itself as a 'platform' or 'referral'.
• Charges any model before finding them work, ever. Tells them they need to pay for photoshoots, images, appointments, training, to be on the website or any other services such as hair appointments. An agency is never allowed to charge any upfront fee to a model and can never force anyone into anything.
• Does not give a model a contract upon signing.
• Tells a model they need a portfolio in order to join an agency.
• Pressurises a model to pose partially or fully nude, in underwear or swimwear.
• Offers any money to a model (such as an advance payment) where interest is being charged. They will need a financial licence to do this, the existence of which can easily be checked online. •Pressures a model to buy images, stating that they will be deleted if not purchased within a short period of time.
• Pressures models to spend money on photoshoots to 'build their portfolio' – there will usually be photographers willing to photograph new models for free, called 'test shoots'. Some very good photographers are worth investing in, but these should be the exception.
• Offers to get a model signed with another agency.
• Promises work/high rates of pay – a model often doesn't earn a sustainable income for a long time and work is never, ever guaranteed.
• Has a minimum term that the model must be signed to them before they can terminate the contract at all (seen more in the USA rather than the UK). This could result in a model being unable to leave that agency for several years, whereas the agency would have no obligation to get them jobs!
How to join an agency
Being scouted
Being scouted or 'spotted' means that someone encourages you to do something based on how you look. In modelling, this is usually associated with strangers approaching would-be models and offering them the opportunity to become a model.
You do not have to be scouted to become a model. Ironically, being scouted does not mean that someone will be accepted by that model agency – it is simply an invitation to interview that is usually met with rejection.
Scouting is actually very dangerous, as anyone at all can be a scout, and scouts have a lot of power. Some scouts are employed by particular agencies and some work independently as mother agents. Fraudulent scouts can use their influence to exploit vulnerable people financially and sexually, and can harass them.
If you give someone your details and they see an opportunity to profit from you, they will try their best to convince you to model. One woman who scouted me told me she may lose her job if I didn't join the agency that she worked for when I had said no!
Being scouted is bizarre – asking someone to do a job simply based on how they look. Would we scout accountants, lawyers or musicians? It is offering someone a ticket to a world they may not want to be a part of and have no knowledge of, steering the course of a stranger's life.
Scouts work absolutely everywhere you can think of – shopping centres, festivals, airports, restaurants, remote towns and villages – they are constantly on the look-out for tall, interesting looking girls and boys. Instagram is often used as an official method of scouting nowadays, which can be dangerous as agency profiles can easily be faked. Fraudulent scouts are known to extort would-be models out of sexual images or money, which has become easier to do than ever while hiding behind a screen.
A legitimate scout will approach you and introduce themselves, telling you that you have potential and giving you a business card if you wish to take the opportunity further. You should always double-check their details by calling the agency's phone number listed on their website and checking that they work there. It is advisable to never give your personal details to a scout.
Thousands of people are scouted and rejected every day, as it is incredibly difficult to join a legitimate model agency. This is especially hard when their hopes have been raised and modelling has been put on their radar, with many people developing negative self-esteem as a result. It is a horrible process to be judged on how you look by strangers and I would advise anyone not to meet with an agency unless they are 100% interested in becoming a model.
As modelling requires serious effort and dedication, models often have to change a lot about their lives in order to become a model, such as where they live or other commitments. It is so important that new models understand this level of dedication and what modeling really involves before embarking upon this path, as it is difficult to leave once you start.
Being scouted can be life-changing – it is just up to you to decide whether that is what you want.
Online applications
Most model agencies accept online applications; however, these are rarely successful due to the hundreds that they receive every day.
An agency's website will detail how to apply, usually by a form requesting personal details and uploading images. If an agency is interested, they will invite the applicant to come and meet them, which does not mean that they will be accepted. A legitimate agency will never accept a model without meeting them.
The online application process is dangerous as agency websites can often be faked. A legitimate agency should never ask for money, bank details or pictures of an applicant in their underwear.
'Walk-ins'
'Walk-ins' are how most models end up joining agencies – literally walking into an agency with the hope of being signed. The majority of UK agencies have times listed on their website that aspiring models can walk in to meet them.
Thousands of people walk into model agencies every year, and most of these are met with rejection. It is impossible to summarise what an agency wants from a model, and incredibly difficult to join an agency. While I have been signed to six model agencies in the UK, I have been rejected from at least ten (often while I have been a successful working model). Each time is incredibly demoralising and upsetting. Agencies rarely give feedback and can sometimes be quite rude.
When you walk in to an agency, you do not need a portfolio. The receptionist will decide whether you will be able to meet the bookers based on how you look and, if so, they may come out to meet you, possibly taking photographs (free of charge) and/or your measurements (see 'M is for Measurements'). The bookers may make a decision straight away or ask you to come back for another meeting.
If you are accepted, you may be given a contract to sign which should always be taken away and read over properly as it may be unfair (see 'L is for Legal'). Many models are flustered and excited at the prospect of joining an agency, so may sign without reading a contract at all. It is always good to sleep on this decision and visit other agencies instead of joining the first one that says yes.
An agency may give conditions for signing a model, for example, reaching certain measurements, moving to a new city or leaving other commitments such as university. These conditions may be hard to satisfy – even if they are casually phrased as 'toning up', 'fixing your hair/skin/teeth' or 'focusing on your career', changing your life can be a very difficult, expensive process, not to mention very hard emotionally, especially if it is for somebody else!
Becoming a model can be very fast-paced, with little time for reflection or consideration. Models often throw away great opportunities in the hope of becoming a famous supermodel, which will only happen for the lucky 1%.
Model–booker relationship
Bookers, also referred to as agents, are people who work for a model agency and send models on castings, negotiate their contracts and book them work. Agencies differ; however, generally each model will have an identifiable booker who looks after them, who they can go to with any issues.
Due to the young age of models who may be living alone in foreign cities, bookers often become their entire support network. Their relationship can become unprofessional, with contact outside of working hours.
As bookers are wholly responsible for promoting models to clients, there is a very unbalanced relationship between them and their models. They know a model's entire schedule; whereas models usually find out only the day before about any work they might have, bookers can choose which clients to send the models' images to, can decide if a model is in appropriate shape to go on castings and tell a model to lose weight.
Models must be able to recognise the difference between developing a good relationship with their booker and being exploited – they should never be asked to give money, sexual favours, their free time or anything else in order to work.
Unprofessional bookers may treat some models more favourably than others, invite models out or contact them out of hours and tell clients that certain models are unavailable to work. They may also ask for gifts or money and allow their personal emotions to become involved in their job, which is very dangerous due to the amount of power they hold over models. A sexual relationship should never take place between a model and their booker while they are working at the same agency.
Bookers control their models' entire careers – to upset them is to risk not being able to pay your rent next month. It is very hard to complain about them to another booker or speak out at all, because they may then give you less work! Many model agency contracts require three months' notice for a model to leave, which can result feeling trapped if you are unhappy.
It is important for models to know that they are not helpless. Their booker has a duty to treat them professionally and respectfully, and if a model is unhappy, they are not stuck. They can talk to the head booker and inform their agency about how they feel, and leave if nothing changes. By standing up for yourself, you are showing that you know how you should be treated and respect yourself.
Unprofessional bookers must be weighed up with realism. If you are not working as a model, the best thing to do is speak to your booker about why this is. Sometimes the client feedback will simply not be positive, and there is nothing your booker can do about this. Some models simply work better than others, and it may not be a matter of personal preference.
Generally, your agency will focus on the models they are excited by. If you look amazing when visiting them, have brilliant new images or make an effort to ask about their days, they will be more motivated to book you work. It ultimately comes down to relationships and sometimes these will simply not work out between a model and their agency due to a clash in personalities.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Model Manifesto"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Leanne Maskell.
Excerpted by permission of Practical Inspiration Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ................................................................................ vii
Introduction ........................................................................................1
A is for Agency ...................................................................................7
B is for Book .....................................................................................19
C is for Castings ...............................................................................27
D is for Dangers ...............................................................................37
E is for Expenses .............................................................................43
F is for Finance .................................................................................53
G is for Gratitude ............................................................................59
H is for Hair and Skin Care ...........................................................63
I is for Instagram ..............................................................................69
J is for Jobs ........................................................................................79
K is for Knowing What to Expect ................................................91
L is for Legal .................................................................................. 101
M is for Measurements ................................................................. 115
N is for Networking ..................................................................... 127
O is for Overseas .......................................................................... 135
P is for Posing ................................................................................ 145
Q is for Questions ........................................................................ 151
R is for Rejection ........................................................................... 163
S is for Sexual Exploitation ......................................................... 171
T is for Tax ..................................................................................... 185
U is for Unionising ....................................................................... 193
V is for Visas .................................................................................. 201
W is for Walk ................................................................................. 207
X is for X-Rated ............................................................................ 215
Y is for Your Career...................................................................... 223
Z is for Zen .................................................................................... 231
Conclusion ..................................................................................... 239
Manifesto for Change: A Call to Action ............................................ 241
Glossary ............................................................................................ 243
Additional Reading ........................................................................... 253
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