Sublime

Through the exercise of managerial control, the promoter extracts labor from girls under the guise of leisure. He manages her looks, time, and movements in a way that must not appear managerial. In fact, promoters’ strategies for managing girls appear very similar to other managerial strategies employers use to extract the most productivity from th

“Table girls” and the models at Toni’s table are engaging in very similar practices—looking good and drinking free champagne at tables—but they occupy very different positions. The positions are maintained as distinct through the boundary work performed; in this case, through particular exchange media and discourses: the table girl is paid in cash

Promoters try to shape girls’ feelings through relational work: strategies by which they try to redefine their economic transactions as part of a personal connection.

VIP treating has expanded as a system to subsidize the fashion industry’s low wages and to capitalize on models’ unusual position as, on the one hand, a precarious labor force and, on the other, a highly valuable commodity.

Like other promoters, Thibault and Felipe questioned the intrinsic beauty of fashion models while wholeheartedly embracing their economic value.

In short, promoters show us that exploitation works best when it feels good.