FASHION Magazine
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A new film opening at Toronto’s Hot Docs this weekend peels back the often-brutal layers of the modeling industry
With designers like Marc Jacobs hiring 14-year-olds to walk in his shows, and young model Hailey Clauson’s racy photoshoots, the issue of underage models has never been more relevant. Enter Girl Model, the documentary by Ashley Sabin and David Redmon. After premiering at TIFF last year, the film has certainly gotten people talking .
Girl Model explores the dark depths of the underage modeling industry through the eyes of Siberian 13-year-old Nadya Vall who is taken to Tokyo on false pretenses and left to her own devices. And then there’s the disturbingly ambivalent model scout who found her, Ashley Arbaugh, who openly struggles with her feelings on the industry as she scours rural Russia for young girls.
In advance of the film opening at Hot Docs today (through Wednesday), we sat down with Sabin and sage/model Rachel Blais (she provides the most grounded voice in the film) to get their take on the underage modeling industry.
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They said/We said: 16-year-old model Hailey Clauson’s non-stop train of controversy continues
Image via Pop Magazine Just when we thought the CFDA was making headway with its policy on improved working conditions for models, a very strange Pop Magazine editorial featuring 16-year-old American model Hailey Clauson has surfaced. Shot by Tyron Lebon and styled by Max Pearmain, the surreal and extremely sexualized shoot includes Clauson posing with nude models (including a porn star) and, in one shot, being choked by the hand of an unknown male.
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They said/We said: Diane von Furstenberg furthers her attempts to enforce legal and healthy models walk in the Fall 2012 shows
Photography by Peter Stigter CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg is not going to let anything slide when it comes to health regulations for models. After last year’s fiasco—an underage 15-year-old (16 being legal age for models), Hailey Clauson, walked in Furstenberg’s Fall 2011 show without her knowledge—the designer is determined to ensure all shows follow the CFDA’s endorsed health guidelines. The guidelines were updated on Thursday.
Furstenberg, scandalized by the incident, pledged, “any model walking in the Diane von Furstenberg runway will have shown I.D. prior to the show,” and is asking other designers to do the same.
To further reinforce this regulation and promote awareness, the CFDA sent a guide to help recognize eating disorders. The lengthy guidelines suggest the industry do things like “Encourage models who may have an eating disorder to seek professional help in order to continue modeling,” and “Develop workshops for the industry on the nature of eating disorders” Extensive list? Yes, but definitely necessary.
DVF has been blazing this trail for a while now, but we fear there’s more work to be done. In the meantime, let’s hope other designers follow in her footsteps for the Fall 2012 shows.