\u201cI think it\u2019s a pivotal point in fashion,\u201d Coco Rocha told Fashionista. \u201cThis fashion week is kind of a moment in time where we\u2019re changing the history of fashion, and I\u2019m excited to be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
This Fall\/Winter season will mark the first test of the New York State Child Model Legislation passed in November 2013.<\/p>\n
Fashionista reviews what challenges and changes the industry will be facing in the coming weeks:<\/p>\n
Fortunately, it does sound like many designers are taking this seriously. \u201cThe Department of Labor has told us that there has been a huge uptick in applications for certificates of eligibility, so I think all the stakeholders are doing their best for compliance,\u201d [Doreen] Small says.<\/p>\n
Council of Fashion Designers of America CEO Steven Kolb explains that the CFDA Health Initiative will continue.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a point of focus, one of those guidelines that we continue to recommend \u2014 \u2018recommend\u2019 being the key word \u2014 is that designers not work with models under the age of 16,\u201d he tells us. \u201cWe\u2019re saying you shouldn\u2019t work with a girl under 16, even though the law [protects those who are] 18 and under.\u201d<\/p>\n
The effects have rippled out abroad as well. Casting director James Scully observed that in seasons past, foreign agencies (especially, he notes, European and Brazilian ones) were sending too many girls. \u201cIf one girl could get Alexander Wang, she would have a great season,\u201d he explains. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think you need to send 75 girls hoping that one or all of them will get it, because it won\u2019t necessarily have that effect on a girl\u2019s career. […] I don\u2019t think they were making a proper edit of how many girls were right.\u201d Now, Scully says, these agencies are forced to send only the girls they truly believe can succeed, whittling down to a much smaller group.<\/p>\n
The Trust Fund stipulation means that the common practice of being paid in trade may also be changing — at least for under-18s.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that they have to put 15 percent of their income into the trust, you can\u2019t really do that with clothes,\u201d she says. \u201cSo it has to be tangible, it has to be money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Girls under 18 must also be spared the long and grueling hours often associated with fashion week, especially fittings. Under New York state law, child performers must be given 12 hours of rest between jobs, with other breaks and hour restrictions (full details can be found at the Department of Labor website). \u201cThat excites me, because I remember getting the phone call, \u2018You have to go to so-and-so casting and we don\u2019t know how long you\u2019re going to be there,\u2019\u201d Rocha says. \u201cAnd again, for pretty much no pay.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the major aims and effects of the legislation is to reduce numbers of underage models working under what are almost guaranteed to be exploitative conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of paperwork,\u201d Scully says. \u201cI have clients that are like, \u2018Don\u2019t bring me anyone [under 18].\u2019 […] I think there were too many young girls in the business. I just felt there was pressure for older girls to be thin because all of these girls were so young, and by the time they turned 18, the pressure for them to not lose their pre-pubescent bodies was getting slightly abusive. I think it was time that somebody put their foot down and said, \u2018This is not the way this business should be run.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as we\u2019re protecting children, [designers] can continue to be artistic, [designers] can still be creative, and they can still work with younger models if that\u2019s what they want to do \u2014 they\u2019re just going to have to do it the right way,\u201d [said Coco Rocha.] \u201cThen there will be people who think, \u2018It doesn\u2019t matter, it\u2019s always been this way, and I\u2019m going to do what I want to do.\u2019 And those people won\u2019t be caring so much about a fine, but people do care about bad PR.\u201d As to what exactly that bad PR means, Rocha has one thing to say: \u201cYou\u2019re violating a child\u2019s rights,\u201d she states. \u201cWhen you put it that way, it sounds pretty scary.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI think it\u2019s a pivotal point in fashion,\u201d Coco Rocha told Fashionista. \u201cThis fashion week is kind of a moment in time where we\u2019re changing the history of fashion, and I\u2019m excited to be part of it.\u201d This Fall\/Winter season will mark the first test of the New York State Child Model Legislation passed in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":10653,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[992,586,793,1136,781,1137,517,603,1140,1141,787,788,1142,615,616,618,1143,516,1139,1138,1036,797],"class_list":["post-10652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-body-image","tag-catwalk","tag-cfda","tag-child-model-law","tag-child-models","tag-coco-rocha","tag-fashion-week","tag-health","tag-health-initiative","tag-james-scully","tag-law","tag-legislation","tag-new-face","tag-new-york","tag-nyc","tag-nyfw","tag-payment","tag-runway","tag-steven-kolb","tag-teenage-models","tag-the-model-alliance","tag-underage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10652"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10654,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10652\/revisions\/10654"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}