The Harvey Weinstein scandal has triggered a wave of allegations, revelations and even confessions via the #metoo campaign across media and entertainment. I’m not the only one working in the fashion business wondering whether this will finally signal the end of our own disgraceful “hush-hush” culture surrounding harassment.
I thought this moment had come when reading that Conde Nast International — which publishes Vogue, GQ and Glamour — had finally decided that it would no longer work with photographer Terry Richardson, for whom allegations of multiple sexual assaults have dogged his seemingly unstoppable career for years.
But given that we have only heard this because of a leaked email, and that the company has refused to confirm or deny it publicly, perhaps not. This late display of “duck and cover” neither protects victims nor presents Conde Nast as an ethically minded company. Because when accusations are made, it’s usually the accusers who suffer, unless the fashion industry decides to change its habit of a lifetime and makes the correct moral choice to make a strong show of protecting them.
As a fashion stylist, I was sexually harassed by a high-profile rapper in a meeting with a fashion client a few years ago. I had to beg my colleagues not to be left alone with him, and I was met with “joke” envy about how lucky I was. The message was clear — I should either get over it, or get another job. I have also had to physically push overzealous photographers away from partially nude girls getting changed backstage at fashion shows, and I’ve comforted a 16-year-old crying uncontrollably after a man in his 40s had barked at her to “Come on, be sexy darling! You can do better than THAT!”
This is only the tip of the iceberg of what many models have to endure on a daily basis as part their unofficial job description. Last week, the model Cameron Russell used her Instagram account to publish dozens of accounts of sexual abuse and harassment from anonymous victims, under #MyJobShouldNotIncludeAbuse. Former supermodel Christy Turlington supported Russell’s campaign, saying “harassment and mistreatment have always been widely known and tolerated in the industry. The industry is surrounded by predators”.
The lucrative love affair between fashion and film was strengthened by Weinstein, who in 2010 invited Sarah Jessica Parker to be chief creative officer for fashion house Halston Heritage, for which Parker also wore designs on Sex and the City. Knowing that actresses are live adverts for fashion houses, Weinstein also strategically pushed his wife’s couture label, Marchesa, demonstrating his red-carpet savvy. US Vogue cover placements of his female actors were also thanks to his shrewd relationship with former editor Anna Wintour. Weinstein’s interest in fashion reflects two historically intertwined industries, which are representative of high-octane glamour, but also guilty of the covert abuse of power.
But are we on the precipice of change? Last week on BBC Radio 4, Tom Hanks called for rigorous guidelines. “I think there should be a code of ethics posted in every lunchroom of every company on the planet that says here is the behaviour that is expected of you as an employee of this company,” he said.
Recently there has been a spate of “outings” for alleged harassment and assault on social media. “Social media provides a safe space and a community, and now we are seeing abusers being named on it too, which is key,” says Rebecca Pearson model and founder of modeltypeface.com. “No more rumours about a ‘certain casting director’ — actual names and details of the experience and what effect it had on the victim are now out there,” she says. In 2012, former model Sara Ziff founded The Model Alliance, a much-needed union body that promotes “fair treatment, equal opportunity and sustainable practices in the fashion industry from the runway to factory floor”.
So will this spell the end of Richardson’s place as feted photographer in the fashion world? He has always denied any abuse, but post-Weinstein, Richardson’s self-portraits of him having sex with his subjects and ejaculating on to a model’s face are surely seen in a different light. Like Jimmy Savile, Richardson dons a “comedic” persona, openly flaunting his predatory nature. Despite many allegations over the years, he continues to get high-profile gigs, most recently photographing teen icon Kylie Jenner for her 2017 calendar and directed a music video for Beyonce in 2013. International make-up artist and activist Georgina Graham, who has worked for fashion’s biggest names, believes the dominance of the male gaze in fashion imagery is the key factor.
The enablers — often female editors and stylists, who are knowingly or unknowingly complicit — have internalised the culture of misogyny, and facilitate the acceptance and standardisation of abuse. Graham believes what is needed is already happening — more empowered creative feminists to revolutionise the patriarchal rot at the helm of power.
She says: “For so long, both the heterosexual and homosexual male gaze has driven the aesthetics of women in both editorial and on the runway, and especially in advertising for the last 40 years — Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin, Mario Testino and Terry Richardson have reigned supreme. We are now finally seeing a rise in female photographers and creatives such as Harley Weir, Petra Collins and Zoe Ghertner, and designers such as Phoebe Philo at Celine, Clare Waight Keller at Givenchy, and Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, who are transforming fashion power dynamics with a definitively empowered female perspective.”
With the new breed of “woke” models such as Adwoa Aboah, who uses her fame to highlight social justice issues with her “Gurls talk” platform encouraging girls (and boys) to speak out about mental health, let’s hope that the tragic exploitation of female sexuality will no longer be tolerated. And male Hollywood stalwarts such as Hanks speaking out about the need for proper moral conduct and care for employees in our severely unregulated entertainment industry will hopefully encourage more men to align themselves with the struggles of women.
Who knows? Maybe now we will start to see corporations finally begin to take some responsibility. To admit their collusion in the distress of young women may seem an idealistic ask, but it’s only by owning up to their mistakes and instilling crystal clear procedures to wipe out future harassment, that we can begin to respect them again.
