"We're really just clothing hangers with no basic human needs."
These models are calling out toxic patterns in the fashion industry.
These models are calling out toxic patterns in the fashion industry.
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CreativityTranscript
00:00And welcome to my new series, Times When Modeling Has Sucked.
00:03Number one, professional full-time models aren't offered healthcare.
00:06At the end of the day, we're really just clothing hangers with no basic human need.
00:09The modeling industry.
00:14The series where I disclose times I've been attacked,
00:16times I've been assaulted, times I've been harassed.
00:19My very first shoot in the modeling industry, I was kind of introduced to drugs.
00:26I began modeling when I was 15, and I was scouted by my mother agency.
00:32When I very first started modeling, I remember my agent told me that
00:37I was perfect, but my legs were a little too muscular.
00:42After the initial ego trip of, you know, being told,
00:46oh, you're so beautiful, we want to sign you with our agency.
00:50That's when, you know, the roller coaster is at its top.
00:53And then, oh, but you need to lose weight.
00:56You need to grow a little bit more.
00:57It just starts kind of declining.
00:59And then it'll go back up when you book a job.
01:02Then it'll go back down when another client says,
01:05no, she's not thin enough.
01:07She's not tall enough.
01:08She's not this.
01:08She's not that.
01:09I personally know almost no models who have never been
01:16pressured in one way or another to change their body.
01:19And that goes for straight size fashion models.
01:21And that also goes for other size models.
01:23Your perception of yourself is constantly being twisted and changed.
01:28And you think, oh, wow, I'm so wanted.
01:30And then the next day it's, I'm so ugly.
01:33I'm so disgusting.
01:34I need to lose five pounds.
01:37I need to stop eating.
01:39It's the worst thing that can happen to your brain as a teenager.
01:44I think this is affecting me mentally.
01:48Like long term, it's gonna with me.
01:51I've been told to do cocaine, to lose weight from by my agent.
01:55Been told weekly.
01:56Been under a lot of pressure to lose weight by my agencies.
01:59I developed PTSD.
02:00I've been told whilst I was underage to just have lots of sex to lose weight.
02:14I've been recommended this diet three different times throughout my modeling career.
02:21Egg whites in the morning and halo top in the evening.
02:24And that's it.
02:25I myself have suffered from bulimia.
02:28And the thing is, it is virtually impossible not to.
02:33Because you're always being critiqued.
02:35The one time I was told that I looked really good was when I was extremely underweight
02:41at 5'8", 103 pounds.
02:44And that's when they were like, oh, you look amazing.
02:48At the exact same time, my hair was falling out.
02:51My skin was starting to flake off because I wasn't having the nutrients I needed.
02:57I was throwing up.
02:59I think what hurts me the most about it is that so many models are hurting so bad on the inside.
03:06And they are portraying this image that is supposed to be the ideal or perfect.
03:13And that is affecting so many more people than just the person on the other side of the image.
03:24No.
03:27Ooh.
03:31Yeah, that's the one.
03:32Two times I did post-topless.
03:34I think I was 16.
03:36And then another time I was 17.
03:38When you're in the moment of at a photo shoot and photographers or stylists are just kind
03:42of barking these orders at you like, oh, yeah, just take the top off really, really quick.
03:47Take the top off.
03:47You don't really get a chance to think about the implications of like, I'm taking my top off.
03:54I'm a minor.
03:55This is not OK.
03:57Men or women, people who are predators, know how to find loopholes.
04:02And so a very, very common loophole is finding a new model who has not been in the industry
04:11for very long and will do anything to shoot with a good photographer, get good photos,
04:19build their portfolio, find opportunities.
04:22And these photographers know this.
04:24And they'll promise them the world.
04:26And then they'll take advantage of them.
04:28It's very unsettling to know that there are pictures of me underage,
04:34naked out there where my private parts are on full display.
04:38I've had a few people ask me, why am I speaking up now about the fashion industry?
04:42Why didn't I speak up sooner?
04:43There's always that fear that it will hurt their career.
04:49Another thing that has happened was that they will actually make their models sign
04:54NDAs to where they can't legally cannot talk about it.
04:58If a brand doesn't want to work with me or if a photographer doesn't want to work with me
05:02because I'm posting how not to get exploited or hurt in the industry
05:10or how to remain healthy or things like that, then I don't want to work with them either.