What does Hollywood Strike Means for Fashion
For the first time in more than 60 years, Hollywood has effectively shut down. Last week, members of the SAG-AFTRA union, which represents 160,000 actors and media professionals, walked off their film sets and stages to form picket lines in Los Angeles, New York and other major American cities.
Under the SAG-AFTRA strike rules, actors are prohibited from filming, promoting their work and appearing at premieres. They cannot seek new work via auditions or readings.
Actors are, however, still allowed to do work outside the realm of film and television production, including fashion advertising — both still images and video. They can also continue with brand partnerships as long as they don’t promote their acting-related projects.
Because they won’t be receiving income from their primary jobs, SAG members could be more likely to seek out this type of work. For fashion, beauty and lifestyle companies, this means they’ll have their pick of a new celebrity ambassador or face of a campaign.
The lack of red carpets will force a pivot for brands that use these events as major marketing moments for their brands. Though it’ll be a shift for major fashion houses, it likely won’t deeply impact their bottom line.
As for stylists and makeup artists, their work will likely suffer without a pipeline of big splashy events for new movies and shows.