Models Push New York Governor to Sign Labour Rights Bill as Deadline Looms

More than 200 models and industry leaders, including Christy Turlington, Helena Christensen, Alessandra Ambrosio and Beverly Johnson, have written an open letter urging New York governor Kathy Hochul to sign into law a landmark bill to protect models from exploitation.

The Fashion Workers Act would regulate management agencies and give models greater rights. Among other measures, it would restrict companies from implementing opaque charges for accommodation and expenses that can leave models in debt. It also would limit management fees and establish frameworks to govern digital image rights — a growing issue as AI becomes more prominent.

“From experiencing sexual exploitation at castings and photo shoots to beginning our careers in debt to our management companies and having our images manipulated with generative AI without our consent — each one of us has a story that demonstrates how New York is failing the faces of one of its most culturally vibrant, economically significant industries in the world,” the letter said, calling on Hochul to sign the bill and “end decades of financial, sexual and physical abuse.”

The Governor has until Dec. 24 to sign the Fashion Workers Act, which was passed by the state legislature earlier this year.

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New York Lawmakers Pass Groundbreaking Bill to Protect Models

The Fashion Workers Act, which aims to curb exploitation in the industry, must now go to Governor Kathy Hochul to be signed into law.