The ‘look’! Aesthetic labour, aesthetic norms and appearance-based recruitment in the runway modelling industry

Bibliographic Data

ID21875342
AuthorsIva Jestratijević (0000-0002-1776-335X, University of North Texas), Nancy A Rudd (0000-0002-2349-3456, The Ohio State University)
Year2023
Volume13
Issue4
Pages443-461
Publication date2023-07-25
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueFashion Style & Popular Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2050-0726 • E-ISSN: 2050-0734
PublisherIntellect (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1386/fspc_00201_1
OpenAlexW4385281657
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited28

Aesthetic labour in the runway modelling industry refers to the practice of recruitment of models-workers on the basis of desired corporeal and facial dispositions. Aesthetic labour theory foregrounds embodiment, which situates the value of physical appearance and aesthetic norms in the workplace context showcasing how the models-workers get recruited and stratified based on their looks. The study employs an explanatory sequential mixed-method design to investigate aesthetic norms including the desired corporeal and facial dispositions that are expected from models-workers in the runway modelling industry. The study included two phases, a quantitative phase and a qualitative phase. The main objective of the first, quantitative research phase, was to investigate the aesthetic norms among 609 international runway models who were recruited to perform in designer exclusive fashion shows during seven consecutive annual fashion week seasons from 2013 to 2020 in New York, Paris, London and/or Milan. The main objective of the second qualitative research phase was to qualify aesthetic norms through a visual content analysis, and in-depth exploration of 40 unretouched professional modelling snapshots (photographs of face and body) for the top new model talents in the 2019–20 fashion season. Model photos were extracted from the popular industry website, Models.com. The rationale for collecting both quantitative and qualitative data was to form a robust and comprehensive assessment of aesthetic norms in the runway modelling industry. The same level of comprehensiveness would not be obtained by using either type of data individually. This article advances academic research on aesthetic labour in the fashion and modelling industry by showcasing why appearance-based recruitment in this sector represents the practice of occupational segregation that creates social inequalities and negatively impacts the labour market

Aesthetics · Art · Context (archaeology) · Face (sociological concept) · Qualitative property · Runway · Social science · Sociology · Statistics · Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Fashion and Cultural Textiles · History · Mathematics · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOI