Haute Couture Ethical Horror

In haute-couture retail and advertisement there have always been conflicts with ethics. The pressure to look perfect, be bone-thin, and stay on top of the industry. In this article, "‘Picture Me’: When Models Turn On the Camera" it talks about how a model exposes many of these conflicts first hand. She bring her own cameras to the sets and behind the scenes in order to expose some of the horrors of the modeling industry that convinces us how to dress, act, and look.  The man behind the camera, Ole Schell, is the main character and model Sara Ziff's boyfriend, he is quoted saying how “The outside of the fashion show is shiny and glistening, but backstage it’s another story.” The movie reveals such issues as breaching of child labor laws (girls break into the industry at ages as young as 13 and 14), sexual harassment issues (since the girls are so young and desperate they allow men to take advantage of them), and of course the hundreds of others issues surrounding the pressure to be the best of the best in modeling.
Models are the advertisement in retail, thus any ethical issues surrounding them effect us as consumers because we are being tricked. Ziff says herself in the trailer how the business is based off of fantasy, the industry can be one of trickery, brainwashing, and thousands of tons of pressures in every direction. One of my favorite parts of the article is where it states how Ziff has been hired for more jobs since the debut of the movie as a show of support. It is so heartwarming to see this reaction in contrast to the negative and critical article Ziff was expecting to get from the industry.


Article & Video: http://blogs.wsj.com/runway/2010/09/09/picture-me-when-models-turn-on-the-camera/?KEYWORDS=child+labor




--Posted by Leah Stoltz