While some may point to the horrific allegations levelled at Harvey Weinstein as being a problem specific to Hollywood, supermodel Christy Turlington Burns claims that the world of fashion is not immune.
“The industry is surrounded by predators who thrive on the constant rejection and loneliness so many of us have experienced at some point in our careers. I feel fortunate that I did not personally experience anything traumatic, but also know that is not the norm,” she tells Women’s Wear Daily in a new interview.
While admitting she was “lucky” to have her mother looking out for her early in her career, she adds: “There were many times I could not believe who I was left under the care of on early trips to Milan, Paris or London. I would get off of a flight and find some creepy playboy type there to meet me.”
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Looking back, she now realizes that “in hindsight, I fear I may have played the ‘honeypot”‘ who lulled aspiring young models into a false sense of security that may have led them to be more easily exploited. “Unknowingly, but still an accomplice of sorts,” she explains.
“I might have been the assurance that made other young women feel safer,” she adds. “If I’d known how these men thought and behaved, I might have done more to stay clear of them.”
As she explains” “There were no chaperones on sets to monitor the hours worked or appropriateness of the themes of shoots and behaviour of the crews, no tutors required or penalties if standards were broken.”
