Media & FAQ

The Charter is an initiative by two global luxury industry leaders, LVMH and Kering, and sponsored directly by Antoine Arnault, a member of the Board of Directors of LVMH, and by François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kering. To prepare the content of the Charter, the two groups – which count many of the world’s leading fashion brands – called on representatives of different fashion industry professions: modeling agencies, fashion federations, models and casting directors. The objective now is to encourage the largest possible number of actors in our ecosystem to join this initiative.

Respect for individuals figures at the heart of the values shared by the Kering and LVMH groups. We have an ethical and social responsibility to ensure the well-being and optimal working conditions for the fashion models who work with our houses. For several years we have unfortunately seen certain practices in the work environment of fashion models which, while they remain isolated, do not correspond to our values, and we cannot tolerate such situations. Even though French authorities have recently taken certain measures designed to address certain shortcomings, our two groups, given their decisive role in the industry, believe they have a special responsibility to go even further through their Houses and take action on a worldwide scale.

Published on September 6, 2017, the Charter on Working Relations With Fashion Models and Their Well-Being addresses the working conditions of models, as well as their physical and mental well-being. There are three main areas covered by the Charter:

The Charter also sets out several commitments regarding the well-being of models in two important areas: nutrition and the workplace environment, particularly stress management.

The Charter takes a “self-regulation” approach by all the stakeholders in the fashion industry, reflecting their commitment to changing certain practices everywhere in the world. It represents a public commitment by our two groups, with respect for the measures easily verifiable by the main stakeholders concerned. It also calls for creation of a monitoring committee that will meet regularly to evaluate application of the Charter and recommend any necessary changes. Each of our houses has also named a representative who is responsible for verifying application of the measures in practice. This person is also available and can be contacted by models who wish to comment on their working conditions.

A French decree issued in May 2017 requires that all models provide a medical certificate from a registered occupational health physician issued no more than two years prior to the date of employment. We believe that this validity period is too long since changes in a model’s physical appearance and health can happen in a much shorter period of time. We therefore require that a valid certificate dated no more than six months before the date of employment be provided. What’s more, we have extended this requirement to all countries where we operate and to all the models who work with us. This is similar to sometimes requiring medical certificates for participants in sports competitions, or recruiting or university examinations, thus ensuring that the person is fit for the activity.

The Charter on Working Relations With Fashion Models and Their Well-Being represents a strong commitment by the LVMH and Kering groups. Our goal is to inspire real change in the fashion world by eliminating certain behaviors and practices that do not fit with our values, and at the same time encourage fashion models to play an active role in shaping these changes.

This approach is about empowerment, transparency and emancipation. This in turn means that we must ensure rigorous application, monitoring and evaluation of the Charter. At the same time, it requires that models themselves engage with the objectives of the Charter, namely improved working conditions, and respect for individuals and their physical and mental well-being. We believe that this site can contribute to achieving these goals.

We want the site to offer easy access and navigation for models from their place of work, while traveling, during breaks, etc., to provide them with information and let them share best practices and experience, as well as advice from professionals.

This site has been created first and foremost for the fashion models who work with our houses. It is also designed for all those interested in the working conditions and well-being of models, both people who work in fashion and the general public.

This site has been created by teams from LVMH and Kering. This initiative is supported by key players from the two groups – the CEOs and creative directors of the fashion houses. It also contains advice from independent nutritionists and coaches.