Sara Ziff is an American fashion model, filmmaker, and labor activist. She is the founder and executive director of the

Model Alliance The Model Alliance is a New York-based advocacy group focused on research and policy for models and others employed in the fashion industry. Founded in February 2012 by model Sara Ziff along with support from others models, the Model Alliance ...

, a nonprofit organization in New York City.

Early life and education

Sara Ziff was born and raised in New York City. Ziff attended the

Bronx High School of Science The Bronx High School of Science is a State school, public Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school in the Bronx in New York City. It is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Admission to Bronx Science ...

and the

Dalton School The Dalton School, originally the Children's University School, is a private, coeducational college preparatory school in New York City and a member of both the Ivy Preparatory School League and the New York Interschool. The school is located in ...

. Ziff graduated with a B.A. in Political Sciences,

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, and she earned her M.P.A. at

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

Modeling career

Ziff has appeared as the face of advertising campaigns for companies including

Tommy Hilfiger Thomas Jacob Hilfiger ( ; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger (company), Tommy Hilfiger Corporation. After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's P ...

, Kenzo,

Stella McCartney Stella Nina McCartney (born 13 September 1971) is an English fashion designer. She is a daughter of English singer-songwriter Paul McCartney and American photographer and animals rights activist Linda McCartney. Like her parents, McCartney is ...

, and Kenneth Cole. She has walked in

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

fashion show A fashion show is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the spring/summer and fall/winter seasons. This is wh ...

s for brands such as

Prada Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding ...

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. It is privately owned by French brothers, Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, through the holding company Chanel Limited, established in 2018 and headquarte ...

Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer and founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Dior, Christian Dior SE. His fashion house is known all around the world, having gained promi ...

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer. In 1968, he launched the company that later became Calvin Klein. In addition to clothing, he has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewellery. ...

Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was d ...

Dolce & Gabbana Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, ...

, Dries Van Noten,

Balenciaga Balenciaga SA ( , , ) is a Spanish Basque luxury fashion house currently headquartered in Paris. It designs, manufactures and markets ready-to-wear footwear, handbags, and accessories, and licenses its name and branding to the American cosmeti ...

Chloé Chloé () is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1952 by Gaby Aghion. In 1953, Aghion joined forces with Jacques Lenoir, formally managing the business side of the brand, allowing Aghion to purely pursue the creative growth of Chloé. It ...

and

Alexander McQueen Lee Alexander McQueen (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded his own Alexander McQueen (brand), Alexander McQueen label in 1992 and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. His ac ...

Filmmaking and writing

With her co-director Ole Schell, Ziff chronicled her modeling journey in the award-winning documentary ''Picture Me''. The film gives an inside look into the modeling industry, showing the highs and lows of a seemingly glamorous business. After ''Picture Me'', Ziff directed a three-part web mini-series for the modeling blog of ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' a ...

'', "The Cut". In 2014, Ziff released the preview of "Tangled Thread," a documentary about Bangladesh's garment industry and women organizing for better working conditions across the supply chain. She has contributed as an op-ed columnist for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''Equal Times'', and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''.

Activism

Ziff is an advocate for better

working conditions {{Short description, 1=Overview of and topical guide to working time and conditions The following Outline (list), outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to working time and conditions: Legislation * See :Labour law * Collective ...

in the modeling industry, which she has described as "an overlooked frontier of women's rights and workers' rights." In 2012, she formed the

, a non-profit organization that advocates for fair labor standards for models working in the American fashion industry. In 2013, under Ziff's leadership, the Model Alliance championed the Child Model Act in New York State, which reclassified models under 18 as child performers and extended them basic labor protections, including provisions for educational requirements, maximum working hours, and trust accounts. New York Magazine declared her "the Norma Rae of the runway" and the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

called her "America's next top role model." In 2012, Ziff became involved with

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

, a non-governmental organization that promotes

children's rights Children's rights or the rights of children are a subset of human rights with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors.

, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries. At the United Nations, Ziff introduced the organization's global flagship report, "A Life Free From Hunger – Tackling Childhood Malnutrition." In 2012, Ziff began campaigning for better working conditions for garment workers in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. In September 2013, she joined other fashion models and labor rights activists at

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning seven to nine days when international Fashion design, fashion collections are shown to buyers, the pres ...

to encourage

Nautica Nautica is an American apparel brand owned by Authentic Brands Group (ABG) and manufactured and marketed by Catalyst Brands featuring primarily men's, women's, children's apparel and accessories, as well as home, watches, and fragrance. Nautica ...

to sign the

Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh Accord may refer to: Businesses and products * Honda Accord, a car manufactured by the Honda Motor Company * Accord (cigarette), a brand of Rothmans, Benson & Hedges * Accord (company), a former public services provider in south England * Ac ...

. In April 2023, Ziff sued Weinstein, Miramax, Disney and others alleging that she was raped by Fabrizio Lombardo who tricked her while she was working as a model for his company in 2001.

Awards

In 2012, Ziff was honored by the blog ''Jezebel'' as one of "The Jezebel 25," a group of "game-changing women" who embody the site's feminist ideals. In 2013, Ziff was awarded the Susan B. Anthony award by the

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

for her dedication to improving the lives of young women and girls in New York City. In 2014, Ziff was awarded the 1st Inspiration and Visionary award by the Women & Fashion Film Festival for her leadership and work empowering women and girls in the fashion industry.

References

External links

Sara Ziff
Video produced by '' Makers: Women Who Make America'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Ziff, Sara Living people 1983 births Female models from New York (state) American documentary filmmakers Models from New York City Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Dalton School alumni The Bronx High School of Science alumni American workers' rights activists American women's rights activists American women documentary filmmakers Harvard Kennedy School alumni People from Greenwich Village 21st-century American women