| Korea Fashion Stylist Association (KFSA) head Choi Sook-hee. |
Fashion stylists are like unsung heroes in making K-culture global.
They make K-stars beautiful, but often do not get much of the credit, despite long working hours for small compensation.
In fact, 90 percent of fashion stylists work 10 hours a day, for less than 1 million won ($885) a month, according to the Korean Women's Trade Union.
This explains why the Korea Fashion Stylist Association (KFSA) was launched in 2017, to try to do something about the situation. First, it brought about a striking change in workers' wage.
"The original wage of an assistant was about 200,000-500,000 won a month, but with the intervention of the association, it almost doubled to 1 million won a month," association head Choi Sook-hee told The Korea Times.
"As an association, we stressed to the heads of stylist teams the need to pay a minimum wage to 'assistants,' the newly employed stylists."
The government this year set the minimum wage at 7,530 won ($6.74) per hour. So, if an employee works eight hours a day for a month, the minimum wage should be around 1.5 million won.
However, stylists who have longer working hours than an ordinary employee have been paid less.
"Not everyone is earning the doubled amount yet, but we are making an effort to help as many as possible," Choi said.
"We also urged the heads of teams to sign written employment contracts with assistants in order to abide by the law."
So far, most stylists have been involved in verbal, not written commitments even with contractors because the stylists usually get jobs through networks and connections.
"This is a serious problem because contractors can always flip-flop," Choi said.
But with the help of the association, workers can now raise their voices as a group, and urge people to sign written contracts.
Choi and association members are also working to establish a system under which a stylist must pass an official qualification test.
"There has been no criteria to evaluate whether or not an assistant is eligible to be the head of the team," said Choi. "Any stylist can become a head if a celebrity suggests that they work together."
Therefore, those "lucky" enough to be picked by a star jump at the chance, with experience or expertise not necessarily relevant.
This has resulted in too many unqualified heads, making contractors doubt the professionalism of stylists and therefore paying them less.
"It was a vicious cycle ― the payment continued to decline, but nonetheless, stylists had to take even low-paying jobs to feed themselves," Choi said.
"Therefore, we thought it was crucial to set up a standard for our occupation based on test results and experience, so that only qualified people can become a head stylist."
The test is set to be implemented, but for about 2,700 fashion stylists in Korea, there are still other hurdles to climb for a better life.
"'The maximum 52-hour working week will start in January, but people like us cannot enjoy the benefit," said Choi. "If our stars are involved in filming, we cannot chill out ― so, without a fundamental change in the entertainment industry, the law is powerless for us."
In fact, during production of a TV series or film, people reportedly work up to 20 hours a day to reduce shooting time and costs.
Choi said many of the people aspiring to be fashion stylists gave up their dreams or quit the job in midway due to the tough working conditions.
"It is difficult to recruit assistants these days because people have already heard about our life," Choi said. "However, since the founding of the association, we are making progress and making many changes."
She also has a positive message: "The future of K-beauty is bright as well, so if you want to be a fashion stylist, take up the challenge."