Sara Ziff Launches Model Alliance

By Emily Gyben 02/02/12 at 12:00 PM

Photo: Getty Images

Models, unite! Sara Ziff is launching the Model Alliance.

They travel the world, they wear beautiful clothes, and they work with the most impressive names in the fashion world—but according to Sara Ziff, there’s a lot more to modeling than the glamour.

The 29-year-old model, who's been planning this project for over a year, will launch the Model Alliance this Monday, February 6, with the hopes of creating an organization that protects the rights of models.

"There is a sense that fashion is frivolous and a lot of people don't understand models wanting to organize for better labor conditions,” Ziff told the Guardian. “They probably see the profession as a privilege.”

Less public than glossy shoots and runways, though, are instances of sexual abuse, lack of proper pay, and discrimination.

"People are blinded by the glamour of the industry,” she said. “People are not aware of the age of some of the people. Some of them are very young, working without chaperones, and sometimes working for free."

To protect its members (the Alliance hopes to have 1,500 models when it launches), she’s drawn up a Model’s Bill of Rights, and has worked closely with the Actors’ Equity Association and the American Guild of Musical Artists, where models will be able to report abuse and exploitation. According to the Guardian, Ziff plans on taking her New York-based organization national eventually.

“In a perfect world, that’s what would happen,” she said.