Press Release: A Fashion Moment as Fashion Roundtable achieves a new division at the union Bectu for fashion stylists and fashion assistants launching this month.
2nd June 2021
Launching this month: new union representation for fashion stylists and fashion assistants.
Bectu is the union for the film, theatre and TV sectors, where many of the skills and jobs for stylists and fashion assistants overlap. Working on set for fashion shoots, fashion films, videos, commercials, shows, live performances, tours and content is not a million miles away from working on a film or TV set. However, while these related sectors have enjoyed union representation, clarity on wages, hours and working conditions, the fashion industry has remained one of the most unregulated industries, open to exploitation, bullying and late/non-payments, with no one to turn to or represent your interests.
Film is thriving in the UK and with the right support so could fashion. The UK film industry makes a fraction of the UK fashion industry, but its structures and supports mean that it has the infrastructure to grow and to support talent from the very beginning and throughout their careers.
Since Fashion Roundtable’s inception, our CEO Tamara Cincik has lobbied Bectu to add fashion assistants and stylists to their roster and now we are pleased to announce that there is a new division for our talents launching this month. Together with cult IG platform Fashion Assistants, Fashion Roundtable have lobbied Bectu, to organise this new division for stylists and fashion assistants, hosting events, collating survey data and sharing insights, many of them highlighting non or late payment issues, as well as systemic malpractice, which with union support can now be eradicated from the fashion industry.
If you haven’t already joined, now’s the time to do so and start building your union for fashion assistants & stylists. As a union, Bectu members have succeeded in ensuring working conditions, pay rates and achieved career stability. Now it is fashion’s chance to do the same.
Bectu said: “To acknowledge the commitment you and your co-workers have shown in making this pledge, your Bectu membership team are offering a special discount joining rate for fashion assistants & stylists for the next two weeks. Until 14th June, 2021, fashion assistants & stylists can join Bectu for £7.50 p/m for the first year. If you have already joined recently, please contact your Bectu official Naomi Taylor on ntaylor@bectu.org.uk and she will ask for you to be moved onto the special rate. Please remember to include your job title as Fashion Assistant and/or Fashion Stylist on your application, otherwise the special rate will not be applied. When you join, it will show as £10 p/m, but the membership team will adjust it to £7.50 at the point of processing your application.
Fashion Assistants (IG page) said: “We are so pleased to finally feel like we can benefit from the support and knowledge of Bectu, which is much needed in this industry. Tamara and her team at Fashion Roundtable have continuously supported and encouraged us for the last few years to keep fighting the good fight and without them, none of this would have been possible and we would have witnessed the industry becoming harder and harder to access and remain afloat. We are looking forward to what lies in the road ahead and hope that we can only become stronger as we journey together.”
Tamara Cincik said: “The film industry in the UK is booming: two studios are being built on either side of London and crews are hopping from job to job, being deservedly well paid for the long hours they do. Bectu agrees a rate card and the hours a member works, go over those hours and they get paid overtime. If a production does not pay, or is late, the union will protect their members’ interests. Cut to fashion: which makes over 10 times what film does for the UK economy, but according to fashion assistants I spoke to at a recent meeting Fashion Roundtable hosted, they are being DMed on Instagram by brands offering them £50 for a shoot day, with no travel costs covered. I earnt £50 as an assistant in 1993. In 1993 the average London home cost £81,000, now it is £514,000. If you are earning that kind of money, you cannot plan ahead, or build a life. How can you think of buying a home, starting a family, paying a pension, saving for a holiday, all the grown up things, which should go with a career. You can't. It leads to both more "Downton Abbey" creatives who do not need to work for money and more exploitation.
An assistant on £50 a day cannot negotiate higher wages and more job security, which is hard enough when you are freelance anyway. A union can. I have seen what they have done for the film industry, where my husband works in the camera department. Yes, he works long hours, but they are regulated and he knows what he is going to be paid and if there is any drama, the union is there to protect him and it will. The fashion industry is creative and exciting, but if you cannot make a career from it with any stability and you run the real risk of exploitation and late/non-payment from clients, it is not sustainable. There is no reason why fashion shoots cannot be as regulated as film shoots and this is why I am delighted that Bectu have agreed to my "nudge" to add fashion assistants and stylists to their roster. Since launching Fashion Roundtable, this has been on my agenda and I am very glad to see this happening now. It could transform lives, working conditions and payments for our creative talents and I am all for that."
To find out more about Bectu membership and to JOIN TODAY, click here: https://bectu.org.uk/join/
If you are interested in getting more involved in the building of your branch or have any questions, please contact Naomi on ntaylor@bectu.org.uk
Note to Editors
Background
Fashion Roundtable is the industry’s leading think tank. We hosted three events with Bectu and Fashion Assistants, as well as organising a survey and a number of meetings to achieve this objective.
About Fashion Roundtable
Fashion Roundtable is the only fashion think tank that sits between the fashion industry and policy leaders: Front Row to Front Bench
We are secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Textiles and Fashion chaired by Dr Lisa Cameron MP, with members including Dame Eleanor Laing, Lord Taylor of Warwick, John McNally MP and Baron Vaizey of Didcot.
Fashion Roundtable are also the secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Ethics and Sustainability in Fashion, co-chaired by Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey and Catherine West MP.
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