A teenage model died after working a grueling 12-hour fashion show. 14-Year-Old Vlada Dzyuba, from Perm, Russia, had signed a “three-month contract” to work on catwalks and finally realize her dream of becoming a supermodel.
But, after traveling thousands of miles away from friends and family, the young girl died from “utter exhaustion” and meningitis. Also, according to recent reports, the model only earned £6.30 ($8.31) a day after paying her plane fares, hotels, and food, it has been claimed.
Her case raises awareness of the exploitation of children in the fashion industry as it has been claimed that before she went into a coma, she told her mother that she was exhausted.
“She was calling me, saying ‘Mama, I am so tired. I so much want to sleep,” her mother told the television programme NTV.
“It must have been the very beginning of the illness. And then her temperature shot up.”
Before she collapsed, it is thought that Dzyuba attended a 13-hour jewelry shoot and that on an earlier contract in China she earned £6.30 a day for her catwalk appearances after her plane fares, hotels, food, and insurance had been taken from her earnings, the Russian media reports.
The Chinese modeling agency denies overworking the teen model. However, facts over her working conditions including the length of her employment hours, which could total over eight hours per day, has raised concerns.
“Dzyuba had received 16 different jobs during her two months’ stay in China,” Zheng Yi, chief executive of ESEE Model Management, told The Global Times.
“She had regular breaks while working. Most of her work was completed within eight hours. Her workload was moderate compared with other models.”
Once the young girl became sick, it was reported that the modeling agency did pay her bills and that the Russian Embassy was informed that she was sent to the hospital.
“Russian embassy staff and the local police arrived at the hospital and inquired about the case,” said Zheng.
“Dzyuba was then sent to the intensive care unit (ICU) as her condition deteriorated.”
