Leading fashion magazine Vogue and the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) is calling on the industry to stop hiring models under the age of 18. And they’re leading the way by refusing to book underage models for the magazine. Vogue and the CFDA announced that they will no longer book models under 18 in an effort to make the fashion industry less exploitative.
Publisher Condé Nast is setting a new age requirement for the models that appear across the pages of its many titles. In a article published in the September issue of Vogue, writer Maya Singer explained the foundation of a still very much imperfect industry, and what Condé Nast is promising to do to create lasting change in this industry.
Maya Singer explains that the fashion industry has developed an unhealthy cycle of hiring young, vulnerable models who will fit tiny sample sizes, failing to give them adequate support for the pressures and temptation (drugs, alcohol) they’ll face, then dumping them once they’ve grown too large for sizing that’s supposedly marketed at adult women.”No more: It’s not right for us, it’s not right for our readers, and it’s not right for the young models competing to appear in these pages. While we can’t rewrite the past, we can commit to a better future,” Singer writes of the new guidelines set forth by the publishing company. The publication notes that the modeling industry’s own #MeToo movement influenced its fresh new code of conduct, which includes model approval of poses and clothing.
“In recognition of the unique vulnerability of minors thrown into a career where they have little control and where abuse has been all too commonplace, the vendor code of conduct stipulates that no model under the age of 18 will be photographed for editorial (unless he or she is the subject of an article, in which case the model will be both chaperoned and styled in an age-appropriate manner),” she continued.
‘Young models are still developing,’ said CFDA president Steven Kolb. ‘There can be a lack of the confidence, strength, experience, and maturity it takes to deal with the pressures of this work.
‘The CFDA supports the recommendation of raising the minimum age – we want young models to have the time to come into their own so they feel safe and in charge in the workplace.’