10/12/01 21:03:03
What Vogue Actually Pays Its Models
URLﾘﾝｸ(jezebel.com)
It's not much! Filings made in association with a $3.75 million lawsuit include the earnings
statement of one of the plaintiffs, the Polish supermodel Anna Jagodzinska. That ledger
tallies gigs for American Vogue, Vogue Paris, and an H&M campaign.
Jagodzinska, pictured here in an ad for the jewelry brand David Yurman, is suing her
former agency, Next, for allegedly stealing $320,000 of her earnings; her co-plaintiffs
are the Estonian Karmen Pedaru, who accuses Next of taking $400,000, and the Pole
Anna Cywinska, who says she's out $30,000. These models left Next in April of this year,
and are claiming that since then, Next has flatly refused to pay them their money.
There are two main issues in the lawsuit. Each plaintiff is seeking the return of those
earnings, plus $1 million in punitive damages. Additionally, the three allege that Next's
breach of fiduciary duty was so extensive and so serious that they want the right to
open their former agency's books to identify other victims. (Full disclosure: when
I modeled, Next was my agency in New York and Los Angeles. After I stopped working,
in the summer of 2009, Next paid me my outstanding earnings in full and in what
I considered a timely manner.)
To document their claims, Jagodzinska and Pedaru filed at Manhattan Supreme Court
copies of the seven-page contracts they signed with Next and assorted other papers.
Among them is Jagodzinska's account statement at Next, dated April 23, 2010.