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“
FASHION VICTIMS Why model behavior in China means keeping a low profile BY MARIANNA CERINI
NOEMI CASSANELLI
30
August 2014 / www.thatsmags.com
First
of
all
I
want
to
tell
you
that
I
don’t
want
my
name
to
appear
in
the
article.
Nor
my
nationality.”
That’s
how
a
conversation
with
Kasia*,
a
startlingly
beautiful
twenty-‐something
working
as
a
model
in
Beijing,
kicks
off.
I’m
meeting
her
at
Wagas
in
Sanlitun,
to
discuss
the
ins
and
outs
of
her
China
career. This
request
for
anonymity
is
soon
to
become
a
familiar
drill
through
the
course
of
my
research,
revealing
a
darker
side
to
the
Middle
Kingdom’s
fashion
industry.
Of
the
eight
women
I
interview,
not
one
will
allow
her
personal
details,
photos
or
portfolio
to
be
published. Model agencies’ names are kept private. So are clients’. When
I
phone
a
Russian
model
–
who
does
fake
Victoria’s
Secret
shows around China – and ask about her visa situation, she hangs up abruptly.
Another,
a
tall,
dark-‐haired
Romanian
who’s
been
modeling
part-‐time,
agrees
to
meet
after
a
casting
call
in
Shanghai,
only
to
later
panic
and
decide
she
doesn’t
want
her
words
to
be
featured
in
print.
The
message
is
clear.
Keeping
a
low
pro ile
is
of
paramount
importance. Given
the
recent
crackdown
carried
out
by
Chinese
authorities
on
the
industry,
this
is
hardly
surprising.
In
May,
police
in
Beijing
set
up
a
fake
casting
call
at
Chinese
agency
M3
in
order
to
ind
models
working
illegally.
More
than
60
people
were
rounded
up
in
the
sting
and
taken
to
custody,
detained
on
the
premise
that
they
didn’t
have
proper work permits or visas. Four models were jailed and, later, deported. Shortly
afterwards,
a
similar
crackdown
took
place
in
Guangzhou,
where
authorities
apprehended
a
couple
of
models
for
the
same
reasons
and
pushed
them
to
disclose
the
addresses
of
others.
Details
on
the
events
were
quickly
hushed,
but
industry
groups
and
bloggers
advised
all
foreign
models
across
the
country
to
avoid
casting
calls
and
to
hide
their
portfolios.
A
couple
of
months
on
and
the
situation
seems
to
have
calmed
down.
In
this
relative
quiet,
all
of
the
models
I
meet
are
back
to
work.
None
of
them,
however,
have
the
proper
papers
to
do
so. Unlike
most
countries,
China
does
not
grant
“entertainer
visas”
to
models.
Most
agencies
simply
sweep
the
visa
issue
under
the
rug,
telling
the
girls
and
women
in
their
care
to
pretend
they’re
traveling
rather than working. “Everyone
knows
there
is
no
visa
that
speci ically
allows
for
modeling
in
China.
The
police
are
also
fully
aware
of
this,”
says
Kasia.
“That
should
change,
but
I
feel
it’s
not
something
that’s
going
to
happen
any
time
soon.
It’s
all
a
big
contradiction.
I
was
on
the
cover
of
a
magazine
two
years
ago,
yet
I’m
theoretically
an
illegal
worker.
It
makes
no
sense.” Born
in
Eastern
Europe
(like
many
of
the
models
here),
Kasia
has
lived
and
worked
in
China
for
the
past
three
years
and
modeled
for
the
last
10.
She
irst
arrived
at
21
on
a
three-‐month-‐long
modeling
contract
–
described
by
her
as
a
‘summer
internship,’
because
many
models
do
this
type
of
work
during
school
breaks.
Her
mother
agency
back
home
had
procured
it
for
her
with
a
local
company.
Girls
as
young
as
15
can
be
dispatched
to
China
on
these
kinds
of
assignments.
Coming
on
three-‐
to
six-‐month-‐long
tourist
visas,
they
arrive
young,
vulnerable
and
completely
beholden
to
their
local
employers,
with
little
negotiating
power.
This
makes
for
a
precarious
situation,
often
combined
with
sub-‐ standard working conditions. On
her
irst
‘tourist’
trip
to
China,
Kasia
was
put
in
an
over-‐priced,
shabby
lat
with
four
other
models,
paid
for
out
of
her
own
pocket.
Asked
to
work
nearly
non-‐stop
for
the
duration
of
her
stay
–
six
days
a
week,
from
sunrise
shoots
to
late
night
events
–
she
was
often
asked
to
travel
alone
to
second-‐
and
third-‐tier
cities
for
business
fairs
and
other
odd
assignments
that
had
little
to
do
with
fashion,
including
the International Grape Festival in Dunhuang and an auto show in Tianjin. Once
her
contract
was
over,
she
decided
to
stay
in
China
but
go
freelance.
“I
made
enough
contacts
to
leave
the
agency
and
start
working
for
myself,
which
was
probably
the
smartest
thing
to
do
for
my
own
sanity,”
she
says.
“I
like
to
be
able
to
choose
what
jobs
to
take.
You
can’t
do
that
when
you’re
bound
to
an
agency.
You
can’t
even
say
no
to
any
assignment,
most
of
the
time.”
I was on the cover of a magazine two years ago, yet I’m theoretically an illegal worker. It makes no sense Still
on
a
tourist
visa,
she
now
tries
to
work
solely
in
Beijing,
taking
the
occasional
out-‐of-‐town
gigs
only
if
the
pay
is
suf icient.
Without
having
to
share
what
she
makes
with
a
company,
she
only
pays
commission
fees
to
her
booker
–
an
agent
who
scouts
girls
and
hooks
them
up
with
jobs
–
which
allows
her
to
live
quite
comfortably.
For
most
models
on
short
contracts,
the
story
is
a
little
different.
Agencies
often
take
up
to
50
percent
of
a
girl’s
income
–
the
Chinese
booking
agency
usually
takes
a
40
percent
commission
from
the
model’s
net
earnings,
her
mother
agency
10
percent
–
and
exercise
an
almost
despotic
control
on
money
for
transport
and
food. If
a
model
puts
on
weight
or
violates
the
strict
standard
measurements
required,
she
could
easily
have
her
allowance
cut
off.
Rent,
too,
comes
out
of
a
model’s
expenses
and
is
later
deducted
from
her
earnings.
To
leave
the
country
broke
is
not
unheard
of.
“Most
companies
lie
about
speci ics
of
the
posts
they
send
you
to,”
says
Lena,
a
Ukrainian
model,
over
the
phone.
After
working
in
Guangzhou,
Hangzhou
and
Shanghai
for
four
years,
she
recently
relocated
to
Milan.
Like
Kasia,
she
opted
for
a
freelance
career
as
soon
as
she made enough insider connections in China. “It’s
quite
common
to
arrive
at
a
job
and
ind
out
you’re
not
just
supposed
to
pose
for
a
shoot
or
stand
by
an
expensive
car
and
smile,
but
that
the
client
wants
you
to
work
overtime,
or
‘entertain’
their
guests,
sometimes
with
dance
routines
and
whatnot,”
she
says.
“The
agency
usually
knows
that
all
along,
but
doesn’t
bother
telling
you.
And
you
have
to
comply
or
they
won’t
pay
you,”
she
pauses.
“That’s
the
key
really
–
if
you
want
to
work
and
make
money
as
a
model
in
China,
you
have
to
keep
your
mouth
shut.” That’s
how
Rafaela,
a
willowy
24-‐year-‐old
Brazilian
beauty
based
in
Shanghai,
caught
hypothermia
on
a
shoot
in
Harbin,
northern
Heilongjiang
Province.
On
her
irst
trip,
she
was
sent
to
the
city
–
which
experiences
harsh
Siberian
winters
–
just
after
Christmas,
to
*All names have been changed. www.thatsmags.com / August 2014
31