Continuing the trend of breaking body, social, and gender norms in the fashion industry, transgender models are making waves in the world of high fashion.

For the first time in decades, the modeling industry is finally beginning to depart from the cookie-cutter body type norms that we’re used to. From wheelchair-bound women gliding down the catwalk, to high-fashion models with Down syndrome, this is just a sampling of the major shakeups that have been happening. Thanks in part to the liberal, open-minded, positive, and expressive demeanor that is the Millennial, the strides in the fashion and beauty industries are becoming more pronounced every day, in part because of pushback from their desire to welcome with open arms what so many before them (foolishly) believed was intolerable.

While on the cusp of major fashion industry change, there has been an even newer trend emerging. Transgender models are not only a welcome and refreshing addition to NYFW and the like, but they’re needed now more than ever. According to a survey conducted in the United States, more than 1.4 million adults identify as transgender, and, in a separate research study, findings show that trans men and trans women have a high rate of suicide and attempts, which has been attributed to mental health factors, experiences of harassment, discrimination, violence, and rejection.

Fortunately, the work of several emerging and veteran transgender models, including the establishment of New York’s first ever transgender modeling agency, has given millions of trans Americans someone to look up to in the mainstream fashion and beauty industries.

1. Pêche Di

Pêche Di is a model and founder of the first trans modeling agency in the United States. After personally facing discrimination in the industry, Trans Models was born. Although the agency is small since it remains difficult for non-cis models to get hired, it is still a groundbreaking step for trans people. An outspoken trans supporter, on the topic of Transgender Day of Visibility, which began in 2009, Di had this to say: “We are part of society. We do all kinds of jobs, have all kinds of interests, come from all demographics. I resist staying silent and I won’t be quiet.”

2. Hari Nef

In addition to being an activist and an actress, Hari Nef is the first trans woman to be signed to IMG Worldwide. She began modeling while transitioning, and is open about the documentation of her gender reassignment surgery. Nef is often sought after for high-fashion shoots, but always keeps her feet on the ground, as evidenced by this advice to her more than 200,000 Instagram followers, “My experience with clothes is mediated by my job which often entails access to luxury garments. These are beautiful things, but they are by no means 1. the revolution, 2. the only conduit for sartorial healing and resistance. Whether it’s Gucci or Goodwill: stay colorful confrontational and weird.”

3. Shane Henise

Transgender researcher, advocate, public speaker, and model Shane Henise is a Columbia graduate student who appeared on Laverne Cox’s “The T Word” documentary and is signed by Trans Models NYC. He wanted to use the platform as an opportunity to show that trans people deserve respect and love, just like anyone else. When it comes to how trans people are portrayed, Henise believes, “Because trans people are not given visibility in media, our society only has one idea of what trans looks like. In reality, there are so many different ways to be trans and expressions of trans identity. I am hoping that moving forward people begin to think about what their perceptions of trans people look like and can begin to integrate a more comprehensive and inclusive picture.” He goes on to say, “I will always choose to be visible for those who are unable or unsafe to do so.”

4. Carmen Carrera

Carmen Carrera is a model, actress, and activist who is signed by Elite Models New York and L.A. Models Runway. She appeared on the reality television series “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and was part of an issue-wide art project for W magazine. Carrera often speaks at universities and gives interviews on trans rights. When commenting on her appearance in the docuseries “Outpost,” she says of the alarming statistics of Brazil’s trans community, which includes 90 percent of people in Brazil working in the sex industry, 46.7 percent of the world’s trans murders happening in Brazil, and 40 percent of trans people contemplating suicide overall, “Learning these statistics, the world needs to change and I will do everything in my power to help protect the future of our trans youth.”

5. Laith Ashley (De La Cruz)

Singer, songwriter, dancer, and print and runway model, Laith Ashley launched his career with a shoot for Barneys New York and was one of the first transgender models to ever appear in a national campaign. When talking to Vogue, Ashley felt that growing up trans in the U.S. wasn’t that difficult for him since he had the support of his family and those closest to him. When addressing his more than 150,000 Instagram followers, he also includes poignant messages alongside photos of his muscles and megawatt smile. Ashley recently shared this sentiment: “I am black, I am latino, I am a child of immigrants, and I am an out transgender man. I proudly walk in my truth every day and try my hardest to serve the community with the platform I am so fortunate to have.”

6. Casil McArthur

Casil McArthur has been modeling since the age of 10, but when the gender dysphoria he had been struggling with for years could no longer be repressed, McArthur began his transition as a teen. After coming out to friends and family, he reportedly made his terms blatantly clear to his agents. If they wanted a girl, then he could no longer work for them. Perhaps one of the more fortunate trans models, in that he received representation, he was quickly signed by Soul Artist Management.

On social media, McArthur openly shares photos of his female-to-male transition. In a recent post showing side-by-side photos of him from age thirteen to fifteen to current day, he said “I’m so genuinely [sic] happy, you would not recognize my personality from before my transition. If you would compare it to who I am now. You wouldn’t recognize me. I didn’t think it’d make it this far, I thought I’d be dead before I’d ever see a day like this. But I’m alive and I am powerful.”

He goes on to encourage his followers by saying, “Never stop fighting for yourself, because the reward of winning is far too great. And I promise, if you’re struggling. You will get there, you WILL get there. Don’t you dare ever give up.”

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Young, naive, and unsuspecting women are lured into the trade, the underbelly of fashion, with broken promises that eventually lead to shattered dreams, and oftentimes shattered lives. Welcome to the modeling industry.

Glossy magazine covers, fat checks, bright lights, big dreams, notoriety, and fame. There’s a good chance we’ve all thought about these things at some point in our lives. After all, the picture perfect lives of supermodels and celebrities are broadcast around us every day. And if you’ve got the height, the body type, and the looks, then you may have even fantasized about gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated or becoming a lingerie-clad Angel.

Why not, you think. The idea of your name being up in lights, or at least on the roster during fashion week is a dream that’s being sold hard and fast and not very fairly. In fact, parading down that runway dressed in designer duds may not be all it’s cracked up to be.

The modeling industry doesn’t always serve as a chance to play dress up, while having someone fuss over your hair and makeup. Nor does it mean you’ll be sailing away to an exotic location to a photo shoot by the sea. And even if it did, chances are the conditions and hours would be grueling and the pay would be paltry, sometimes even nonexistent.

As an emerging face trying to make a name for yourself, these conditions may even seem alright temporarily, but from the latest revelations that have been uncovered about the modeling industry, the abuse doesn’t stop there.

In addition to the crash diets, eating disorders, drugs, criticism, and an absolutely wrecked self-esteem, these women, and oftentimes, teens, are subject to additional forms of abuse and exploitation. The Business of Fashion claims that “the two biggest problems in the global modeling industry are the sexual harassment and financial exploitation of models.” Among the various forms of sexual abuse is unwanted touching, being pressured into having sex at work, and being asked to pose nude during casting or on the job without prior notice.

The op-ed goes on to say, “Of those who had experienced sexual harassment, only 29 percent reported it to their agencies; of those who did report harassment to their agencies, the vast majority indicated that their agencies did not see the problem.” Some agents were rumored to recommend their clients sleep with someone on the job in order to further their careers.

In an expose by CNN, Carolyn Kramer, a former agency executive, was quoted as saying, “When you’re a supermodel like Giselle or Christy Turlington you’re treated like royalty, but 99 percent of models are treated like garbage.” Kramer also took it upon herself to compare the industry’s labor abuses “to those faced by young factory workers at the turn of the century.” The stories about women being promised pay are a dime a dozen, like the Jamaican model who, despite being told she’d receive a $75,000 annual salary, only ended up receiving a few thousand dollars for three years of work while in New York. And in an even darker scenario, some women in Florida were victimized as part of a fake modeling scheme, drugged, and then used for pornographic films.

Why is this happening in the modeling industry?

“Under current federal and New York State law, independent contractors are not afforded the same protection from sexual harassment in the workplace as employees (the same is true of wage and hour protection),” reveals The Business of Fashion. Even though New York City law is supposed to protect independent contractors from sexual harassment, there is sometimes little that can be done to fight back due to the complicated hiring structure, therefore allowing misogyny and objectification to run rampant. From misclassification to federal law prevailing, loopholes are often found preventing women from successfully pressing charges for sexual harassment or wage theft.

What can be done to protect models now and in the future from rampant sexual harassment and financial exploitation?

Even those models who have “made it” so to speak, earning six or seven figure salaries annually, still face issues like receiving exorbitant miscellaneous charges from their agencies, as well as the use of their image without proper compensation, not to mention the sexual harassment they’ve probably been putting up with for years. If top models are also still facing this treatment, then the outlook can seem bleak.

Although former attempts have been thwarted by agencies, continuing to fight for unionization and government intervention is so important for the protection and safety of models. Furthering the causes of labor advocacy organizations, like Model Alliance, is necessary for raising awareness and bringing victims together. 

Let us know your thoughts on the issue by sharing on the EcoSalon Facebook page.

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Welcome to EcoSalon’s newest column: #NowWhat. Abbie Stutzer gives her take on news through a modern feminist lens. We hope you enjoy!

ColumnAllegations about sexism in the modeling industry are everywhere, but who is actually trying to solve this toxic problem?

Recently, Cara Delevingne, former international super model and all-around badass feminist, told the modeling industry to screw off and finally quit her six-year career.

While Delevingne’s grand exit isn’t all that shocking (she’s on to bigger and better things, and is currently building up an acting career and is dabbling in music), it’s her “exit interviews” that are raising the eyebrows of fans and fashion followers.

According to Jezebel, Delevingne suffered extreme stress while modeling. Not surprising, but it’s still rather upsetting that an incredibly successful model was still exposed to all the nasty criticism that seems to plague the industry. Jezebel reports that she suffered chronic stress that lead to psoriasis, a skin condition. The industry was not kind to this development: Delevingne said that “people would put on gloves and not want to touch me because they thought it was, like, leprosy or something.”

Sure, the above antidote is terrible, and no person should be expected to look perfect at all times, but it’s Delevingne’s condemnation of the industry’s overt sexism that really gets me riled up.

According to Jezebel, Delevingne was quoted, saying this about the industry: “I am a bit of a feminist and it makes me feel sick.” Jezebel reports that the former model was specifically referring to many of the sexually suggestive poses she had to execute through her career.

“‘It’s horrible and it’s disgusting. [We’re talking about] young girls. You start when you are really young and you do, you get subjected to… not great stuff.’”

While it’s no surprise that Delevingne isn’t pleased with the inherent sexism that’s in the modeling industry (she’s been a vocal advocate for gender, sexuality, and LGBTQ issues), it’s sad that more models don’t feel comfortable discussing this obvious issue.

The modeling industry has been a frequently reported cesspool of nastiness for some years now. The industry is well known for recruiting incredibly young girls and pressuring them to be as thin as possible.

And, yes, the industry has self-corrected a bit and is beginning to support women who do have diverse bodies, but there are inherent problems there, too. Sure, there are more plus-size women, women of color, and transgender people in big-time ad campaigns now, but their numbers, compared to conventional models, are still too small.

The industry needs to wake-up and realize that models are people. And people buy clothing. So, if you’re abusing and marginalizing the very women (and men) you’re using to sell your overpriced clothing, how much do you care about the consumer? To me, that answer is clear: you don’t care.

So, why do people still support companies that endanger models? Probably because consumers don’t know any better.

While the Internet is filled with modeling think-pieces and feminist manifestos about how the modeling industry is incredibly elitist and fucked, the everyday consumer probably won’t see the majority of these words – you have to be interested in the subject to care about it, really. And it’s for that reason that outlets like this one write about companies and organizations that embrace models who are different, and businesses that have strong ethics. As we’ve said before, we know that there should be a hell of a lot more companies hiring diverse models and making their corporate ethics policies public, but at least the following companies are making a conscious decision (even if it’s calculated to get good press) to hire people who are different, and take a stand against the corporate “norm.”

ModCloth: ModCloth is well known for selling plus-size clothing that is cute and fashionable. The company also uses plus-size models to exhibit the clothing, too. In addition, ModCloth also has pledged to not Photoshop its models, and the site is filled with women of various ethnic backgrounds.

IMG: This top modeling agency recently signed transgender model Hari Nef. Nef is now part of the company’s A-list roster.

Doobop: Sure, Cover Girl has signed plenty women of color to be the company’s cover girl, but the company isn’t breaking its back to create lines of makeup that are made for those women, either. That’s why companies, such as Doobop, are so important. The beauty company started in order to “create a chic online shopping destination that mirrored the ethnic diversity spotted daily on the streets of New York City.”

Also, we can’t help but mention that there are plenty of companies that are dedicated to treating the Earth and animals well. We know we’ve covered many of these companies at length on EcoSalon, but there’s a reason for that. We think that if you respect animals and the environment when you’re creating your clothing and building your brand, you probably respect the people who work at and represent your company, too. Read about companies that embrace sustainability and veganisim by giving the following pieces a read:

3 Must-Have Luxury Vegan Fashion Looks for Fabulous Cruelty-Free Style

11 Sustainable Fall 2015 Fashion Picks

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We start this piece by stating that we know that not every person who is  thin has anorexia. But we do know that in general, the modeling industry is incredibly hard on women of all body types, and we applaud France for monitoring its models’ health.

France is banning “ultra-thin” models. This ban includes models who are underweight (this is determined by a model’s Body Mass Index or BMI.)

We’ve got to admit it’s awesome that a country is taking such a firm stance on models’ health. Anorexia is incredibly detrimental to a person’s body and often times it’s deadly. And, duh: Most people who buy clothes are not super-fit, or incredibly thin. People come in all shapes and sizes, and it’s about time that a country does all it can do to promote the fact that not everyone is incredibly thin.

Earlier this week we also caught wind that Lane Bryant launched a campaign called #ImNoAngel. The campaign features models who are considered plus sized posing “naturally” in lingerie. (Basically, they look like most women who wear underwear, stand and aren’t bent over a table waiting to be rammed by some invisible penis.) The goal of the company’s campaign is to redefine sexy in the modeling industry.

Linda Heasley, Lane Bryant’s CEO, said she hopes #ImNoAngel shows that all women are beautiful. And while the campaign’s tagline is a semi-slam against Victoria’s Secret’s Angels, Heasley clarifies that it’s not meant to be insulting:

“We really admire Victoria’s Secret and what they’ve done; they’re an amazing brand. But arguably, their notion of what’s beautiful and sexy is a little narrow, and we want to say that beautiful and sexy comes in all shapes and sizes, as these models prove. It’s all about these amazing women, and making a statement.” – Refinery29

What do you think about the #ImNoAngel campaign? Do you think the U.S. should have a ban that’s similar to France’s “ultra-thin” model ban?

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