Fashion is often associated with glamour and luxury, but behind the scenes, many models and creative industry workers lack basic labor protections.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), most models are treated as independent contractors rather than employees, a classification that significantly limits their ability to negotiate fair terms, compensation, and legal protections.[1] Because agencies exert significant control over their work, many argue that models should be treated as employees.[2]Last year, the Department of Labor issued a ruling requiring workers who are “economically dependent” on a firm and whose work is “an integral part of the employer’s business” to be considered employees.[3] Nonetheless, modeling agencies oppose these efforts, contending that such a change would increase costs.[4] These gaps in protection leave industry workers in debt and without recourse.[5] There is a solution, and it starts with the law.
The New York Fashion Workers Act
The New York Fashion Workers Act (“FWA”), enacted in June 2025, marks a pivotal step toward regulating decades of unregulated agency practices that exploited legal loopholes. For the first time, model management companies must register with the New York Department of Labor and display proof of certification or face civil penalties.[6] The FWA also establishes fiduciary duties, requiring model management companies to act in good faith and in the best interest of the models.[7] To ensure that models have greater autonomy, a modeling agency can no longer require models to sign over the power of attorney to them.[8] Under the FWA, model management companies must also adhere to a 20% commission cap and provide industry workers with total compensation details before they begin work.[9] Additionally, the law requires model management companies to be fully transparent regarding hotel rates and lease agreements.[10] To do so, they must provide the model with a written agreement in advance and obtain the model’s signature.[11] Model management companies must also pay models one and a half times their base rate and provide at least one thirty-minute meal break if they work more than eight hours.[12]
Before the FWA, companies could use models’ AI body scans and digital replicas for campaigns and product launches without consent, credit, or compensation .”[13] As a result, many models unknowingly surrendered the rights to their own likeness when submitting 3-D body scans at an agency’s request.[14] However, legislators recently amended the bill to require fashion companies “to obtain clear written approval to create or use a model’s digital replica,” a significant provision as the use of artificial intelligence to supplement traditional photography continues to rise.[15]
A model whose management company has violated any terms of the FWA may file a complaint within six years of the alleged violation.[16] If a model management company is found in violation, it may be required to pay actual damages for any losses incurred by the model because of the violation, as well as the model’s attorney’s fees and costs.[17] In determining the amount, the court will require agencies to demonstrate that they were unaware they were violating the law.[18] If the agency does not meet this burden, it may be required to pay additional liquidated damages of up to 100% of the actual damages owed.[19] Furthermore, if the court finds the agency “willfully” violated the FWA, they may be required to pay liquidated damages up to 300% of the actual damages.[20]
The key question is whether the FWA can set a precedent that could influence fashion law nationwide. As the first legislation of its kind in the United States, the FWA addresses gaps that many other states have yet to confront. New York’s FWA could be the first step toward broadening fashion labor reforms across the United States if other states choose to adopt similar measures.
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