A new model for fashion.

In 2012, we established the Model Alliance to give models a voice in their work.

Since then, we’ve restructured the Model Alliance as a new entity with a broader mission. Through strategic research, policy initiatives, and campaigns, we aim to promote fair treatment, equal opportunity, and more sustainable practices in the fashion industry, from the runway to the factory floor.

Our community occupies a powerful platform to campaign for transformative change. Models are some of the most visible workers in the world, and the multi-national companies we represent have a disproportional impact on public health, our environment, and working people’s lives. To affect change, we all need to have a voice in our work. That voice can take many forms, from industry surveys to committees and campaigns.

By assisting models and other stakeholders in understanding the laws applicable to them, and by encouraging them to have a voice in their work, the Model Alliance identifies common areas of concern in the fashion industry, conducts strategic research with leading research institutions to inform policy initiatives, and educates the industry and the public about our core issues.

From creating protections for models from workplace sexual harassment and pressures to engage in starvation dieting, to calling for transparency and accountability across global supply chains, we need to inject a labor consciousness into fashion. The Model Alliance aims to lead this effort.
 
To receive updates about our work, please join our mailing list. We welcome your ideas and involvement as we join forces to create a more just fashion system and world.

Thanks for your support,

Sara Ziff, Founding Director, Model Alliance 

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Programs 

The RESPECT Program

The RESPECT Program is a program of the Model Alliance that invites companies in the fashion industry to make an enforceable commitment to stop harassment and other forms of abuse. The RESPECT Program aims to address issues of: 

  • Eating disorders and pressures to lose weight,

  • Discrimination or harassment of any kind,

  • Lack of timely payment and financial transparency,

  • Absence of a proper complaint mechanism,

  • Absence of a clear, coordinated process to address complaints,

  • Absence of enforceable industry standards and best practices,

  • Retaliation against models who speak out, and more.

Under the program, models and creatives will be able to file confidential complaints that will be independently investigated, with real consequences for abusers. There will be training and education so everyone knows their rights. Designed by models and our allies, RESPECT is the only initiative that is based on models’ concerns, experiences and priorities.

For more information on the RESPECT Program, please visit programforrespect.org.

 Community Engagement and Education

The Model Alliance hosts events, know your rights and listening sessions, and maintains a social media presence aimed at raising awareness for its core issues. 

Strategic Research and Reports

The Model Alliance partners with leading academic research institutions to assess and better understand issues in the fashion and modeling industries and how they could be addressed. Research partners include the Legal Clinic at Fordham Law School, the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders (STRIPED) at Harvard University, the Applied Psychology Program for Eating and Appearance Research (APPEAR) at Northeastern University, and The Worker Institute at Cornell University. 

Advice and Support

The Model Alliance advises models and aspiring models on their rights and on the support services available to them. Through Model Alliance Support, models report questions and concerns and we refer them to attorneys when necessary. Since 2012, we have provided guidance and support to thousands of individuals.

Public Speaking Engagements

The Model Alliance participates in public speaking engagements to educate the public and raise awareness about our core issues. We respond to requests from universities and the media. We have given talks at Columbia, Cornell, Fordham, Harvard, Princeton, NYU, and Yale, among others.

Legislative Advocacy

A small portion of our activity is dedicated to legislative advocacy. In 2013, we championed the Child Model Act, which extended labor rights to children who work as models in New York State. In 2018, we championed the Talent Protections Act, which requires talent agencies in California to educate models and other performers about sexual harassment and eating disorders.