UK Creative Industries’ Union Rings Alarm on Fashion Sector Work

Nearly 80 percent of creatives working in the UK’s fashion sector have felt pressure to work for free, while only 14 percent say they get paid on time for the work that they do, according to a new survey by the country’s creative industries’ union Bectu and its fashion branch, Fashion UK.

The survey highlighted long-standing issues in fashion’s creative sector, whose glamorous veneer rests on the graft of a host of overworked and underpaid stylists, hair and makeup artists, photographers, fashion assistants, as well as many others.

“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,” one freelance fashion assistant said in their survey comments.

“The issues uncovered in our 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’ time,” Bectu head Philippa Childs said in a statement.

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