LONDON — U.K.-based fashion creatives are not benefiting from the industry’s economic success, with the majority struggling financially and late payments commonplace, according to a new survey conducted by BECTU, Broadcasting Entertainment Communications and Theatre Union, and its fashion branch Fashion UK.
It said responses from 525 British stylists, designers, hair and makeup artists, fashion assistants, tailors, and photographers, among others, in November painted a “bleak” picture of poor work-life balance, with more than seven in 10 reporting struggling with their mental health in the past year, and around 60 percent of them saying their work has negatively impacted their personal relationships.
The research also showed that only one in 10 fashion creatives said they feel secure in their job. Some 51 percent of surveyed fashion creatives are earning under 30,000 pounds a year before tax from their work in the industry, and eight in 10 said they have felt pressured to work for free.
One freelance fashion assistant told the survey: “I’ve had shoes thrown at me, been told certain expenses will be covered, and then had the client refuse to pay them. [I’ve worked] 16-hour days during London Fashion Week for as little as 100 pounds.”
Philippa Childs, head of BECTU, said the issues uncovered in the survey should “ring alarm bells for the industry, with many fashion creatives telling us they don’t see themselves in the industry in five years.”
Childs advocated that being part of a union is one way to ensure fashion creatives have a voice at work, especially if they freelance.
Founded in 1991, BECTU represents more than 40,000 workers in creative industries including broadcasting, cinema, film, digital media, independent production, leisure, IT and telecoms, theater and the arts in the U.K.
Billed as the first trade union for U.K.-based non-performing fashion creatives under BECTU, Fashion UK said it believes that working in fashion doesn’t have to be like “The Devil Wears Prada.”
It provides fashion freelancers with one-to-one advice, and offers public liability insurance that would cover items in one’s custody and control at work at a value of up to 10,000 pounds.