Model For Sustainability
by Jade McSorley
Models are a part of the supply chain too but what does sustainability mean to a model’s work and personal life?
Recently, since graduating from my masters in Fashion Futures at London College of Fashion, people have been asking me: So, what is the future of fashion? How can we be more sustainable in fashion? There is no easy answer and it is mostly not what people want to hear so you quickly become the bad guy. Either go naked or stop buying so much. For companies with long supply chains, it’s even harder.
How can you be sustainable throughout all aspects of production from your fabric’s ingredients, to supporting workers who sew your seams, reducing the water used, the airmiles travelled, the packaging you use, the samples you waste. Where do you start?
As a model I realise I am a walking hypocrite. A model is another part of the supply chain, with an underestimated influence but often with the quietest voice. How can a model be more sustainable in his/her choices when their job is to sell more?
For me, sustainability is personal. It is an over-arching, holistic umbrella that empowers us to question the choices we make on a daily basis. How we eat, how we dress, how we manage our time, how we build long-lasting relationships and careers to be proud of, how we support our own wellbeing.
These can all be sustainable or you can make impulsive choices that will fizzle at the first hurdle and leave behind a detrimental aftermath. It is no different when you apply it to modelling but, unfortunately, it is a little difficult to make those choices when you are a 5’10 puppet within a saturated market. Tell your agency you won’t work for a brand because of their ethics or you don’t want to fly because of the carbon footprint, you might as well say farewell to your career.
I realised two things during my ten year career as a model and that was basically this: I had an unsustainable career within an unsustainable industry. Don’t get me wrong, modelling comes with its perks, which is why we still carry on casting (there is a film there somewhere), live out of suitcase, pretend we like spirulina smoothies and never complain when you have shot your 50th outfit of the day with no break.
Yet we all know a model’s career has an expiry date, resulting in a growing anxiety as clients start to get bored of you and move on to a younger, more cool version of you. It’s brutal but true and we would be lying if we knew it wasn’t going too happen eventually. Fashion is fast and fickle. Fast in production, fast in consumption and fickle in nature.
The problem is, we never had chance to prepare for it. Amidst the last minute confirmations, the multiple flights, the early starts and the constant rotation of news clients and teams, we never got opportunity to commit to anything other than being a 24/7 on-call-model. The amount of hobbies started and ditched is pretty embarrassing. I think I’m blacklisted from my local pottery school because of cancelling so many times.
As models we don’t have chance to focus on our own self-care and sustainment beyond our modelling career and here lies a huge problem for the individual. I was witnessing it all around me amongst my friends who had nailed it as working models; beautiful souls with more life experience than most people twice their age.
Yet they had zero confidence of doing anything other than modelling and lost as to how to apply the knowledge they had gained. Modelling doesn’t exactly come with a job specification so companies don’t understand or appreciate a model’s skills for communication, understanding concepts and briefs, working in teams, travelling independently and budgeting from as early as 16 years. Nor does it offer us a pension to have as some kind of financial support.
And let’s be honest, a model’s job today is less about walking the catwalk and more about a constant rotation across e-commerce studios to keep up with the changing trends, curating our Instagram portfolio and building a ‘following’. The fashion industry – the brands, the designers, the CEOs, the influencers and the models – have collaborated and contributed to the perfect capitalist business model by making consumers feel that they need something new every week, every event, every date, every holiday, every Instagram post.
In fact, a study by Hubbub Foundation suggests that 17% of young people questioned said they would not wear an outfit again if it had been on Instagram (EAC, 2019). This figure is only set to grow with new generations been being born into a digital era.
So where do we go from here? The industry is changing rapidly and so are the consumer’s demands. Models are no longer the unreachable, 2D clothes horse but a personality; one that is expected to show off who they are and what they believe in. Therefore, we need agencies and the industry to allow that space for models to grow and evolve into those who can use their platforms for GOOD. I worry that most agencies don’t realise that by allowing time for self-nurture and exploration, they, in turn, will also notice the benefit.
Brands want ambassadors who will campaign for the companies beliefs and values. It is not just about what you look like, it is about who you are. Are you a skater, an activist, a poet, a scientist, an environmentalist, a digital artist, a mime artist.. whatever! For self-sustainment and well-being, time is a needed luxury for models to establish the foundations to prepare them for the rest of their lives.
For me and my passion for our environment, is about considering the brands I work for. I am lucky that my agency support me but I am also at an age where I have the experience to make those choices and understand the consequences (mainly to my struggling bank account!).
It takes an optimist’s belief that more sustainable brands will have the budget to use models to promote their brands. New business models are already emerging that provide new avenues (and revenue) for models to participate such as rental, resell and made-to-order.
Maybe we need to see modelling as practice. Instead of a noun, we are a verb. We are moving and changing the industry from within. As I said, models are underestimated and have the platform to empower positive impact in precarious times and we just need the confidence in ourselves to own it.
Just like our environment, we not only need to survive but thrive.
Jade McSorley is a fashion Model, co-founder of sustainable rental clothes swap company, Loanhood and ambassador for the Responsible Trust for Models