The modeling industry, you might've heard, can be a pretty effed up place (something we've been convinced of ever since Coco Rocha recalled that she was told by execs to look "anorexic").
In addition to the unhealthy body standards and the use of too-young models, Jezebel has uncovered another injustice: models not being paid.
It's no secret that many models get paid in "trade," i.e. clothes. But as Jenna Sauer's points out on Jezebel, the "looks models" -- the ones who show up to the ateliers before the shows to try on the samples, test out the outfits and work with the designer and stylists long into the night -- were never those girls. At least the looks models got paid.
Not anymore, apparently. 17-year-old Hailey Hasbrook, recently featured by Women's Wear Daily in the weekly "Model Call" column, spent a large chunk of New York Fashion Week at Marc Jacobs' beck and call as a looks model. She documented the entire experience on her Tumblr (UPDATE: which has since been taken down), giving more behind-the-scenes detail than we've ever read from one model.
Here is how she described some of her time with Marc (emphasis ours):
Saturday:
... I also had a couple fittings, but they all got cancelled because Marc requested me to do the looks for him!Doing looks means that I am kind of like a live mannequin in a way. They try all the garments and looks on me to put together what they are going to use for the show. I was there from 6 pm until 2 in the morning. Despite the long hours it was actually a lot of fun. Everybody that works there was super nice and fun. That was the end of Saturday…
Sunday:
Sunday was a VERY hectic and LOOOOONGG day…..It started with a casting for Rodarte at 11:00 in the morning.
Then, I had MORE looks for Marc Jacobs. The SCHEDULED time was Noon-4:30. They ended up keeping me until 6:00, though, causing me to have to switch around my schedule and cancel some things.
[...]
I thought to myself at least it will be an early night. Wrong. After I get to Theysken’s, I get a call from my agency saying Marc wants me BACK to do more looks. They told him that I would do it but I had to have an early night because I had shows early the next morning. They told me that I shouldn’t be there any later than 10:30.
Well, 10:30 rolls around and I ask Shawn if he knows when I will be ready to leave. Only to find out that they have me booked open-ended. Meaning that they had no specific end time for me. After a couple phone calls, they decided on 2:00 am.
Well, 2:00 rolls around…. I hadn’t been trying things on for a while so we all thought I would be good to go. I go and start to get dressed only to be called for in the other room by Marc.
I didn’t end up leaving until around 4:30 in morning, which was the time that everybody else left.
Monday:
Monday was almost equally long as Sunday just because of how little sleep I had.I didn’t end up getting home and to bed until about 5:00 that morning since I was at Marc Jacobs all night.
So for all this work, how much was 17-year-old Hailey paid? "I got trade, not cash," she tells a reader. Gushing to WWD, she said, "I literally got a whole outfit from Marc Jacobs -- a bag, dress, jacket and shoes."
We'd recommend heading straight to Hailey's Tumblr, where she's documented not only her Marc Jacobs experience but her ongoing travels to Paris. As a new face on the scene and an honest, unedited voice, you'll find yourself rooting for her.
And maybe wishing Marc (and other designers) would pay models with something other than clothes.
Read more on HaileyHasbrook.Tumblr.com and on Jezebel.com.
UPDATE: Marc Jacobs has responded, tweeting at us: "models are paid in trade. If they don't want to work w/ us, they don't have to."