In response to recent research on how models feel they are treated in the UK modelling industry, the British Fashion Model Agents Association (BFMA) has developed the Model Companion App. The app is paid for by agency members—at an affordable fee of £1,000 per year to support running costs—but it is free for models to use and provides an emergency alarm, complaint reporting and ongoing monitoring.
We interviewed John Horner, Chairman of the BFMA and a Director of Models 1, one of Europe’s leading modelling agencies. We learn more about the drivers behind the initiative, the challenges so far, what the app offers in terms of its functionality and what John believes the risks are of EDI issues not being addressed in the sector.
The BFMA is committed to protecting the welfare of models, recognising the potential for significant issues surrounding abuse and harassment within the industry. The sector has long been criticised for its lack of oversight and the prevalence of inappropriate behaviour toward models, ranging from verbal abuse to sexual misconduct.
What are the BFMA’s drivers for addressing diversity inclusion?
Our organisation in the UK represents around 10,000 models. Of those, 40% are British, and the rest are from a combination of the European Union (about 30 to 40%) and the rest of the world. In that context, the range of models, their ethnicities, their ages, their sexual orientation, etc., is hugely variable.
It's very important that it's not only just us, the agents, looking after the interests of those models—which is much easier for us to do because we're a relatively small community—but to make sure that the client community working with those models also recognise the issues. They also need to understand what is required of them in their normal processes of work. So, the fundamental reason for doing this work was to do with the protection of the models, and that is the role of the BFMA.
What is the BFMA's key EDI aspiration?
The aspiration is that we shouldn't have to worry about EDI or the need to prevent bullying and harassment because it should be understood and in place across the board. The fear is that it isn't. We need it here today, and it's not something we can delay; it's something that should be in place right now.
One of the difficulties is that it's third-party—it's not the agents directly, it's the people that we're involved with and the clients we're involved with. Thinking about that numerically, a typical, larger agency will deal with about 2,000 individual client companies each year. Every single year, 400 of those won't work with an agency again, and 400 completely new companies will sign up. So, the number of client companies across the industry is huge and getting them to appreciate and understand EDI and the prevention of bullying and harassment is quite a job.
What do you perceive as being the main risk of not addressing EDI for your sector and your particular organisation?
It's very simple—it's abuse; there will be abuse. We've done our research and we know that there has been abuse and it's something we can't put up with. It's totally unacceptable, which is why it's such an urgent thing. We have to act on it immediately and we are acting on it as best as we possibly can.
What motivated you to start this particular EDI initiative?
Most of our member agencies have been running their own internal EDI programme and the BFMA has been regularly sitting at the Creative UK EDI Roundtable. Being there, I became aware of the fact that a lot of other industries have done quite a lot of research into their own organisations to understand the issues. I was quite surprised by the extent of abuse—and I do use that word fairly loosely at this juncture—that has occurred across these other industries. So, I decided to persuade the BFMA—without much difficulty—to undertake our own research, which we had never really done before to any great extent.
We undertook a programme of research where we interviewed 700 British models online. It was done exclusively with British models because we felt if we'd done it with models from abroad, the issues raised would have been pertinent to their own countries and not necessarily to ours.
There were several open-ended questions where respondents could write about their experiences and the response was extraordinarily high, which was alarming for two reasons. One is the nature of their experiences, but more importantly, the fact that they actually bothered to do it because that told us quite a lot. We undertook the survey and we learnt from it that the perceived level of abuse in the industry was high. It was shocking. I presented this data to our members and we were all in agreement that we needed to do something about it.
One of the things we asked the models was if they would be interested in some kind of a mechanism where they could report complaints. A high percentage—both male and female and of diverse backgrounds—said yes, they would welcome something like that. So, to that end, we went about working on producing what we have called the Model Companion App.
What are you fundamentally trying to change with the Model Companion App?
It's a cultural thing. I think for a long time, the industry has had this culture where anything goes. I think it is really important for clients to be made well aware that we're watching because that's where the problem occurs. The second the model leaves our door, they're no longer our direct responsibility—they are de facto the responsibility of the client and the client has a duty of care.
I also think that models are somewhat different to other people in other industries, like music, for example. In music, you may be in a physically vulnerable position because of where or when you work. A model, on the other hand—their body is on display, which is a very different perspective, one that makes them immediately vulnerable and open to abuse. We need clients to know that we're watching and that we have a means of understanding if they abuse their position.
You can set up a model agency in your bedroom tomorrow, and you can start putting your feelers out everywhere. There are clients who have no experience in modelling, and there are abusive people who work for those clients. So, I hope that because people know the app exists, it will modify their thinking and behaviours. I also hope the wider industry agencies will be encouraged to become members because, I hope when parents and young models are looking for reassurance, the BFMA will become a Kitemark.
That said, I think that in the last five or 10 years at most, the world has changed. I do think culture is changing in a positive way. Young people come into the modelling world today with a much clearer view of their rights than was ever there before.
Can you tell us more about what the app offers in terms of functionality?
The Model Companion App is an online application that has two functions. One of them is a very simple alarm button that a model can press to send an SMS message to either the model’s booker or the model's booker's boss. They can then immediately identify the model and make contact with them from anywhere in the world.
Part two of the functionality is that the model can report a complaint. There's a bespoke set of questions designed around the modelling industry, and they allow the model to actually name a perpetrator if they want to and then list any number of complaints. Each report goes to the boss of the model agency, the managing director or the head of the division, and that person has to respond to it within a week. All of the members who are signed up have agreed to this.
The BFMA also gets an anonymised copy, which means we can identify any serial perpetrators and decide what we are going to do about it. If it's a designer or a show producer connected with the British Fashion Council, for example, then I have an agreement that I can go to the BFC and register the complaint against the individual. Then, together, we can decide what to do next.
The initiative is still at the very early stages, but what indicators will you be looking for to let you know it is successful?
It'll be a success and a failure because the increasing number of complaints we get means that we're having more problems. It'll be a success for us if we get high numbers of complaints, but that in itself would demonstrate a failure of the industry. It'll be a success of the system, but a failure of the industry.
I hope the nature of the complaints will become less extreme and more generic. I think if the culture begins to change and if clients begin to be aware that they cannot step out of line, this is a major measure of success. The other important thing is how the agencies follow up on the complaints because it's one thing to respond, it's another thing to do anything about it.
What have been the main challenges or barriers you've had to overcome to get to this stage?
Not as many as you might expect, other than getting everybody to agree to all the details and getting people to respond. That can be true of any industry organisation, though—members can be hopeless at responding, and it's an extreme frustration. However, there wasn't a huge resistance because I think most people have recognised and accepted the need for it.
As a result of this work, we can't be accused of not trying to protect our models. I think that's a really important part of it because one model agency that nobody has ever heard of, that's got three models on its books, can tar the whole industry with the same brush. It just takes one incident for the whole industry to be accused of being sexist, etc., and that's one of our biggest problems.
Do you hope to see other organisations following in your footsteps?
One of our members is a multinational and they said they could see the Italian Model Agency Association taking it up. That would be great—if other countries take it up and do it for themselves. To see how those cultures change across the industry would be incredibly interesting and if we could see this initiative spread more internationally, it would be phenomenal.
Plus, if it works, it could easily be expanded into other industries too because the framework and the back work we've done now exist.
To download the BFMA’s Model Companion App you need to be either a BFMA member or a model with a BFMA agency. Or to learn more about its features, visit the Apple App Store page.
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