New York Fashion Week 2018 is finally in reach, and just yesterday the Council of Fashion Designers of America and the Model Alliance announced that starting this year, all models will have access to private dressing room spaces. In a statement, Sara Ziff, founder of the Model Alliance, explained, “Models have raised concerns about invasive photography and lack of privacy while changing clothes backstage at New York Fashion Week. The Model Alliance takes these concerns seriously, and we decided to take additional steps this season to ensure a safe and respectful work environment by providing private changing areas backstage.”
This comes as a stark departure from historic runway practice, where models changed out in the open as hair and makeup artists, photographers and other members of the press continually passed through, leaving them totally exposed and feeling uncomfortable to a certain extent. As of now, it is unclear what these new dressing rooms will actually look like, or whether they’ll only be implemented at official NYFW shows. That being said, all venues have been invited to adopt these new standards, per the CDFA initiative.
Here’s to hoping this new effort will continue to decrease the incidences of sexual harassment and assault in the fashion industry, because 2018 could def use that right about now.