Who Needs Cold Hard Cash? Pics Are Just As Good

It seems, that’s the mentality of some designers. Some designers consider the publicity of modeling their clothes or participating in their shows is the same thing as money. I wonder how the models feel about this because last time I checked, Zed cards aren’t free.

“Soon after I returned from the Femina Look of the Year contest in 1997 I got calls from representatives of various designers asking me to work for them for free in return for ‘a couple of pictures for your book.’ I refused then but it did not take me long to realise that this seemed to be the norm in the industry!”

For Sahiba Singh, who has worked with the likes of Ritu Kumar, Anju Modi and Meera and Muzzafar Ali, it’s simply a case of the supply being much more than the demand. She recalls, “Initially when I started modelling, a few known agencies and designers did ask me to model for them for free and I agreed a couple of times, before realising that I was being taken for a ride and refused. I guess every model goes through this initially. I have been told by coordinators that editorial shoots are not monetarily lucrative but they give the models immense publicity. I think this is unfair, for we are all earning our bread and butter by modelling.”
In my eyes, unless you are Versace, Dolce and Cabana, or some other very well known designer, agent, or other well known in the modeling industry, prepare to fork out the cash and pay the the models.