Underage model Ondria Hardin walks the Marc Jacobs show

There has been an eruption of controversy in the media over Marc Jacobs decision to use underaged models in his runway show. The designer, who is on the Board of Directors for the Council of Fashion Designers of America, indulged in a flamboyant display of hypocrisy when he dismissed the regulations created by the
CFDA and used two fourteen-year-old modelʼs in his show. The CFDAʼs regulations state that designers should not use models under the age of 16; a rule created to protect the well-being of these young men and women in the fashion industry.

However, that is not the only CFDA model regulation that Jacobs blatantly disregarded for his recent runway showing. The CFDA sorely attempts to regulate working conditions by suggesting that models under the age of 18 should not work past 12 a.m in the industry. For the latest NYFW, Jacobs employed 17 year old Hailey Hasbrook as a fit model and kept her past this curfew on two consecutive occasions. Hasbrook stated on her Tumblr that on the first evening she was held at Marc Jacobs studios from 6 p.m. until 2 a.m., and on the second night she was kept until 4:30 a.m. To make matters even worse, Hasbrook did not receive any payment for the gruelingly late hours she spent at the fitting. The only remuneration the adolescent model received was in the form of trade, or Marc Jacobs products, for her participation in the runway show. In retaliation to this recent criticism, Jacobs tweeted, “Models are paid in trade [clothes]. If they donʼt want to work w/ us they donʼt have to.”

As one of the most famous and well-established designers in the business, Marc Jacobsʼ apathy towards implementing regulations created solely to protect the health and livelihood of these young models, sets a frustratingly bad example in the industry. The exploitation of young models is an epidemic in the garment world. Without the support of powerful fashion juggernauts like Jacobs, this sickness within the business will continue to thrive and degrade not only the juvenile models but also the name of the
fashion industry.

By Stephanie D’Angelo

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Category: Fashion, headlines, Models

Tagged: Marc Jacobs