Live Models in Milan Shop Windows Anger Italian Trade Unions

Real Models Displaying Swimwear at the Coin in Milan Sparking Controversy

Real Models in the Windows of the Coin Department Store in Milan (Photo: REUTERS/Alessando Garofalo)

Modeling is as much about grabbing attention as it is about selling a product, a look, and a way of life. Advertisers and store owners are forever looking for ways to drum up word of mouth and excitement, sometimes opting for the out there or controversial to do just that. The Coin department store in Milan is currently in the midst of their own controversy, having angered Italian trade unions with their use of bikini-clad models in their store windows.

That the models are flesh and blood humans rather than your run of the mill, human-shaped mannequins is seemingly unacceptable to Italy's largest trade union, Filcams CGIL. According to Yahoo! UK the union has felt the need to step in to object to the display in order to "protect workers' decorum and customers' intelligence." The union also described the modeling as "degrading," although in their statement they added: "Let's be clear, we're not against the sale, or a free-market economy, or against consumers."

Coin, for their part, claims to be doing nothing wrong and certainly nothing that hasn't been seen before. Indeed, in cities like New York and Toronto the live-model-in-shop-window is a ploy that has definitely been used. If walking by a display featuring a human model people will often find themselves looking twice, mostly just to make sure their eyes aren't playing tricks on them and they really did see that "mannequin" move. Does this draw more people into the store or get them talking about the display? There are no hard numbers, but one imagines that the Coin controversy can't be hurting the store's profile.

Models Holding Up Protest Signs in Coin Window (Photo: REUTERS/Alessando Garofalo)

Especially because, at its essence, the controversy is relatively mild. The models are young, good-looking and clad in swimwear, nothing too risqué or vulgar. One also has to wonder if these models are really being taken advantage of or if making one's living while lounging on some sand in a store window isn't better than some of the indignities other members of the working class often have to suffer, and without anyone bothering to notice.

The models themselves don't seem particularly bothered by what can be seen as exploitation, although that's not entirely surprising given their choice of profession. Is it really any different to lounge in a store window than to appear in an ad or on a runway? As a response to the union some of the Coin models even held up signs declaring "Anche fare il modello e' un lavoro" ("Even being a model is work").

"I don't see anything scandalous about it," Matteo Cupelli, one of the Coin models told AFP. "We're doing our job and lots of other shops do the same thing. Our job is to advertise objects and clothes. Some passersby are amused, others less so. But lots of young people support us."

And while some passersby may be offended at the sight of young models in bikinis and swim trunks it really is hardly more than is seen at any pool or beach. If Coin hasn't really broken any rules in regard to public indecency and the models are all being paid a fair wage and treated properly then one has to wonder what this controversy is really about.

Coin's chief Stefano Beraldo declared that while the company has been "accused of commercializing the human body," he feels it's unfair. "We've not invented anything," Beraldo added, "It's done all over the world. It's just business."