When the model Emily Ratajkowski recently wrote an essay detailing the ways she has felt exploited by the modelling industry, readers were shocked. But on social media, many models responded with similar allegations. Former model Leanne Maskell and current model Magdalena Kossewska discuss their experiences, while John Horner, managing director of Models 1 looks at whether the industry needs better regulation
Emily Ratajkowski is a world-famous model, perhaps best known for her appearance in the Blurred Lines music video, which shot her to fame in 2013. But recently it’s her words that have had everyone talking. She wrote an essay about her experiences in modelling, setting out a series of systemic issues she feels exist within the industry. She wrote of having to do work she was never paid for, losing control of how pictures of her were used, and an alleged assault by a photographer when she was 20. Her words shocked many, but for former model Leanne Maskell and current model Magdalena Kossewska, Ratajkowski’s stories were all too familiar. They tell Anushka Asthana about their experiences of exploitation in the fashion industry.
Anushka also talks to John Horner, managing director of Models 1 and chairman of the British Fashion Model Agents Association – a group of agencies, including his own, who have drawn up a voluntary code of conduct to help improve the industry. He discusses the way his agency approaches the safety of its models and why better government regulation is critical.
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