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This article examines how a predominantly female professional group—film costume designers (including a few men)—rallied to reshape a collective bargaining agreement deemed unfavorable through union action in France. The demand emanated from a handful of some of the costume designers with the most legitimacy in the sector, and was supported by the majority trade union. They postulated that their work had a value similar to that of more masculine set design jobs. Their demand was brought to the attention of film producers’ representatives during collective bargaining sessions held at the industry level between 2014 and 2016. However, this negotiation, which was framed by the lexicon of the existing collective agreement and took place in a confined arena, did not allow establishing gender-based employment to support a positive reassessment of their job. This inertia ultimately leads to reflect on the conditions under which a gendered wage hierarchy can be challenged through institutionalized negotiation.