The issue is in your choice of words. No, it's not just 'an undesirable thing' - it's a criminal act.
... except when it's not. And again, that they didn't, has no relevance as to whether or not it was a criminal act
--
Rob,
Before you go - I'm sure that you mean well, but it's plainly evident that the first-hand experiences you speak of are of another era. Times change, laws with them. The world of pro fashion photography has changed with it.
Photographers are no longer the stars, the models are. Photographers survive under the patronage of the top rags. Look at the credits on some of Testino's books and you might twig.
One more thing - when and where was it that you claim you'd worked for Vogue ?
I was waiting for that, what took you so long?
From my job books, old and as tattered as they be, the best records of it that I can find today tell me this:
23-30/6/72Amsterdam, for Vogue and IWS advertorial; I think we were based in the Apollo(?) Hotel.
4-9/7/72Luxembourg, for Vogue and IWS advertorial - can't remember the hotel so you'll have to 'phone around yourself to find proof.
7-18/12/72a. Lisbon
b. Algarve
For Vogue with various other clothing organizations; advertorial.
Dom Carlos hotel; Da Balaia Hotel.
11-12/1/73Malta
Advertorial for Vogue and IWS.
Phoenicia Hotel, Valletta. (Discovered fried ice cream.)
10-18/8/73For Vogue and IWS. Advertorial.
Cyprus.
Again, can't remember the hotel, but I'm sure you will be able to find it; it was in the south of the island.
10-13/1/74Vogue and IWS. Advertorial.
Mallorca.
Hotel somewhere in Magalluf.
................................................................................
There may be others, all around that period, but despite being nice for the ego and CV (very!), they brough in no profit - in fact, based on the time they took to shoot and print, quite the opposite.
The irony was, most young guys chased Vogue to get advertising; for me, I was already doing advertising because there were no worthwhile mags in Scotland, and the magazine work came to me, because of the advertising work, rather than the other way around.
Best of all, I didn't once have to step into Hanover Square, doing which would have cost me more in flights than the freakin' work gave me!
If you are unfamiliar with IWS, it's the International Wool Secretariat. Another contributor to fashion trips, that I can remember today, was Monsanto. Few people floated trips without fibre company aid, hotel and airline cooperation too. Calendars, of course, were something else, with beautiful budgets.
The first trip gave me around twenty-seven pages in Vogue, and I think the smallest one gave me about nine.
Happy?
Rob