Caitriona Balfe says never saw a 'dime' of €240k she earned as a fashion model

“Long before I started acting, I spent almost 10 years working as a fashion model.

"I walked the runways of brands such as Victoria’s Secret and the fashion houses of Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Chanel and many others,” she confides today as a guest columnist in ‘The Hollywood Reporter’.

“But despite my success, I still experienced the detriments of working in a largely unregulated industry, like not getting paid on time, if at all.

"Everything changed when I became an actor, but it’s still the same grind in fashion — and worse.”

The Monaghan born actress, who recently starred in ‘Belfast’ and is a regular on TV show ‘Outlander’, points out that many model agencies do not properly pay catwalk queens.

“While working in Milan, I amassed earnings of €240,000, but I never saw a dime of it.

"That’s because the financial backers behind the agency had allegedly siphoned off their models’ money to private bank accounts and the agency declared bankruptcy,” she claims.

“Recovering those earnings would have required calling every single client I had worked for — including Miuccia Prada, Domenico Dolce, Stefano Gabbana, Angela Missoni and so on — and asking them to testify that they had hired me for my time.

"That clearly was not a winning strategy if I wanted to continue working.

“I was not the only model to lose money from this agency, nor did I even incur the largest loss. To my knowledge, no funds were ever retrieved.”

Catriona (42) adds that she knew it was time for action.

“After that, I knew I’d had enough. I did something models are told never to do: I told my agency that I refused to continue working for another brand who never paid on time until I received all the money I was owed.

"It took a year to get my earning,” the mum-of-one points out.

She believes there’s a big difference between the way model agencies work and those who represent actors.

“On the surface, acting and modeling have a nearly identical business structure: Agencies book gigs on your behalf as talent.

"Why, then, do these two industries have totally different responsibilities to their creative workforces?,” she stresses.

“Well, for one thing, fashion is an industry largely made up of young women and girls.

"To many, the labour of models is not seen as “work” but rather the benefits of winning a genetic lottery.

“So, models are perceived as being privileged, with no talent or skill, and therefore unworthy of basic protections or even empathy.

"That’s contrasted with actors who are seen as talented — and even get an entire, widely televised awards season celebrating those talents — on top of the protections they enjoy from being part of a heavily unionised workforce.”

She maintains many model agencies “have created and benefited from a system in which they take zero responsibility for advancing a model’s career or financial interests, but yet they dictate terms for those models. That’s vastly different to the relationship I’ve experienced with my agency as an actor.”

She points out that unlike talent agencies – which represent actors and which are considered employment agencies- – modelling agencies are instead classified as ‘management companies’.

“Many contracts hand over 'power of attorney' to modelling agencies, allowing them to accept payments and negotiate pay rate on behalf of the model without her knowledge; deposit checks and deduct unexplained expenses on top of a hearty commission,” she says

“And yet, modelling agencies have no fiduciary responsibility to the talent they represent.

"So, it’s common for agencies to negotiate low rates or even payment “in-trade,” i.e., in the form of clothing, while collecting overcharged rents from stuffing 10 girls into a two-bedroom apartment.”

Caitriona then decided to change career.

“Shortly after that experience, I pursued my dream of acting. And suddenly, for the first time in my working life, I knew when my paycheck was coming and how much would be in it.

"There was finally a structure to when my day would start and end. And there were contracts, which I would have access to and my own lawyer could discuss with me,” she notes.

“These were the dramatically simple changes I experienced when my career was in the hands of talent agencies who are obligated to act on behalf of their client’s interests.”

She points out that a new bill in New York “could disrupt that power imbalance that’s ruled the $2.5 trillion fashion industry for decades.”

She adds: “The Fashion Workers Act, which the Model Alliance launched earlier this year, would close the legal loophole through which management companies escape regulation and engage in predatory behaviour.

"It would create basic protections for fashion’s creative workforce by forcing companies and clients to do outlandish things such as pay talent within 45 days of completing a job, provide talent with copies of their contracts and agreements and conduct a reasonable inquiry into health and safety on the set they’re sending talent, to name a few.”