When The Times Up Movement Reaches The Fashion Industry
In light of many allegations of sexual assault and harassment by Hollywood's men, it was about time that the times up movement would make its way to the fashion industry or have it resurfaced once again. Mario Testino and Bruce Weber were accused of sexually abusing models on their shoots years ago.
This isn't the first time allegations towards a well-known photographer were brought forth.
Terry Richardson is one of the first where sexual abuse allegations were brought to light years ago, but nothing was done.
Many of these photographers have been in the fashion industry for decades and rose to prominent and respected positions in the industry which made a lot of people not believe these allegations because
how could a man who is respected and well-liked among the industry do such horrible things?
well...
Take a look at Terry Richardson. He is a fashion photographer who is known to have a weird photography style. He is known for his sexually explicit photos and having models pose in a compromising way. These "style" and "method" could lead to dangerous consequences. He would persuade models as young as 19 to perform sexual acts on him while he was photographing them.
This was happening for years. These allegations began in 2001 and some models and celebrities such as Coco Rocha, Miley Cyrus, and Jaime Peck all accused Richardson of sexual abuse in a span of 13 years. Terry has denied all of these allegations, but we all know that everyone denies it up to a point. He later admitted that he, indeed, "interact" with models in a sexually explicit way. It took Conde Nast another 4 more years to completely cut ties with Terry Richardson.
Let's look at another photographer who had sexual allegations brought against him.
Bruce Weber is another major fashion photographer who was accused of sexually abusing and harassing models on set.
Bruce Weber has photographed supermodels for major magazines all over the world. He has been on the fashion scene for 45+ years so he has gained the notoriety and respect from many in and outside the fashion circle. All this notoriety and respect didn't keep him safe from sexual harassment and abuse allegations that arose in late 2017.
Many male models stepped forward and claimed that Weber sexually abused them or tried too while shooting them for ads, editorials etc. In an article published by The New York Times, over 15 male models current and former have claimed that Weber has sexually harassed or abused them. Obviously, Weber's response was that these allegations were "untrue" and "never touched anyone innaprioately." Like Terry Richardson, Conde Nast has suspended Bruce Weber, but sometimes it's too little too late.
Mario Testino. There are no words that can explain his work and contributions in the fashion industry. He has shot for all the major fashion magazines most notably Vogue. Mario and Anna Wintour had a good relationship with each other as well. Mario most famously photographed Princess Diana and everything was history after that. You can say that he is THE photographer you would want to shoot with if you were a model.
All that power and control can come at a price.
13 former male assistants and models came forward and stated that they were sexually abused or assaulted by Testino as early as the 1990s. Many models stated that Testino really abused his power
and manipulated these models into doing what he wanted because he is THE Mario Testino. Like Weber and Richardson, Testino denied these allegations and he stated that the claims that were made against him were false. Once these allegations came to light, Conde Nast suspended all work with Testino for the coming future and thus had the fashion industry questioning everything.
What I really want to grasp here is that if the Times Up movement and the Harvey Weinstein scandal didn't shed light on these issues then this would still be continuing for who knows how long. We all know that the fashion industry would just sweep these allegations under the rug because it's MARIO TESTINO AND BRUCE WEBER.
We saw that with Terry Richardson. It was stated in a documentary that models were being abused in the late 1980s by him and yet Conde Nast was still using him for shoots and publishing his work even when allegations against him were still being brought up and that is really sad.
It's amazing how much power, control, and being a white male can really influence the industry. These were highly respected photographers and everyone wanted to be shot by them. They were put on a pedestal and were regarded as some of the best photographers in the world, but oh how the tables have turned.
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