Hollywood costume designers’ win pay equity fight with ERA support

July 26. 2024

Equal Rights Advocates proudly supported the costume designers in their fight for equity as a women-dominated field in Hollywood, supporting a new contract that will also impact women outside the industry and across the workforce.

After decades of fighting for pay equity, Hollywood costume designers recently won a wage increase of over 40%, raising their pay rate to match their peers. ERA mobilized support for the Costume Designers Guild’s demands for pay equity.

The Guild’s #NakedWithoutUs campaign drew attention to the fact that costume designers are the lowest-paid workers in the industry, largely due to their ranks being majority women, especially compared to other industry fields. Pay scale rates for costume designers are 30-65% lower than those of their creative department head counterparts, which are majority men. The Guild’s win brings costume designers’ pay in line with their creative counterparts.

Support for costume designers’ fight for pay equity has been widespread, from A-list Hollywood actors to national gender justice and labor advocacy organizations.