Valerija Sestic, 17 years old
Sestic’s agency also ignored CFDA guidelines during the spring/summer 2012 show season and sent her onto NYFW runways aged 15 — after telling designers she was 16 after all.
As reported by BuzzFeed’s Amy Odell, New York legislators voted unanimously to pass a law to protect underaged models. The bill, which was proposed by Senate Co-Leader Jeff Klein and State Senate Labor Committee Chairwoman Diane Savino, recognizes models as child performers, affording them the same protections actors, dancers, and musicians under the age of 18 have enjoyed for quite awhile. If signed into law by Gov. Cuomo, the bill adds “print and runway models” to the list of performers covered by strict Department of Labor regulations to protect individuals under the age of 18. In addition to NY lawmakers, the Model Alliance, a non-union organization that works to improve working conditions for fashion models, played an enormous role in the introduction and passage of the bill.
According to Odell, the law will require design houses that want to use models under age 18 to apply for a certificate to work with them and will be forced to keep careful records of all minors they work with should the Department of Labor inquire.
Under the new legislation, designers would have to notify the Department of Labor days in advance of any minors they’d want to hire. That means no more adding in a 17-year-old to the lineup the night before a show walks.
Adding child runway and print models to the law means chaperones would be required to monitor workplaces of models under 16.
Employers would also have to provide nurses with pediatric experience as well as teachers and a dedicated space for instruction.
Employers would also have to deposit at least 15% of the children’s gross income into a financial trust created by the models’ parents or guardians.