Imagine receiving your paycheck, months after you were supposed to get paid, only to find 70% of your earnings deducted for unexplained “expenses.” On top of that, you signed a contract with an exclusivity provision stipulating that you may not work any other job in the same industry without giving your boss 20% of those earnings. To make matters worse, you learn that you’ve been paying the company you work for five times the market rate to live in a roach-infested apartment with bunk beds you share with other employees. This is the life of a typical fashion model in the United States.
As Sara Ziff previously argued, the fashion industry — a culture rampant with eating disorders, the normalization of performing sexual favors to get work, and financial exploitation—is badly in need of a makeover. Nine years after California failed to extend employee status and other labor protections to models working within the state, the New York State Senate delivered models their first legislative victory with the Fashion Workers Act (FWA) (eff. June 19, 2025). This post discusses key provisions in the FWA and offers areas future legislation should address to further improve labor conditions for models.
The FWA should be applauded for establishing sector-wide minimum labor standards for models in New York, specifically through the following four provisions.
Registration Requirements for Model Management Companies — Within one year of the Act’s effective date, every model management...
The ABA’s 2026 False Claims Act Mock Trial Institute, held in New Orleans this year and sold out, once again offered a bevy of lessons, information, and insight. As always, the FCA Mock Trial Inst...