'Slaves to debt': fashion models speak out about catwalk misery

Ekaterina Ozhiganova, a Paris catwalk regular, co-founded the group Model Law to defend models' rights. [Photo:AFP]

They appear to be living the dream, walking the catwalks of Paris, New York and Milan in the most beautiful clothes money can buy.

But behind the glamour and the travel, many models are earning mere "pocket money", tied by debt to agencies and afraid to admit what they owe.