The case is so sprawling -- it has involved 10 different modeling agencies, and because it is a class-action suit, potentially thousands of models -- that most major figures in the Manhattan modeling industry are in some way involved.
And nearly everyone in the fashion world has an opinion.
The agencies' defenders say that for the most part modeling firms are low-margin mom and pop operations that cannot even afford liability insurance, and they paint the small group of models who originally brought the suit as embittered by stalled careers.
"I'm so offended by these models doing this," said Bruce Weber, the fashion photographer. "I know some of them. It depresses me so much that there's this bitterness from people who were never really able to do well in this business. That's what this is from."
The models' sympathizers say that the industry is known for its rapacious attitude toward vulnerable young people, and that it has long lacked professionalism.
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