Many companies employ fashion interns on a rolling basis.This is a win-win situation, companies benefit from keen and energetic young people, who are willing to do whatever it takes to impress them for very little money or even free of charge, while interns learn how it really is to work within the fashion industry along the way, building up contacts that may prove useful in the future.
A lot has changed in recent years, for instance the careers service of the University of the Arts London requires employers to comply with the minimum hourly rate before they can actually post vacancies on their website. You can also find different initiatives to safeguard the fair treatment of fashion interns on social media such as UK Fashion Intern, promoting paid internships, entry level roles and intern advice.
We believe fashion internships should be limited to either students or for a maximum period of 6 months after graduation. Afterwards, they should be paid according to the amount of hours they do, just like any other job. Universities could seek companies employing people with the skills lectured at their institution, and establish ongoing partnerships to give their students the opportunity to do at least one full-time internship, from one to three months, as part of their annual curriculum.
Students on the other hand could be given guidance about their career plan and learn skills about how to successfully venture into the challenging world of job hunting. Before deciding on which way they want to go, it 's quite crucial to check out different opportunities that are actually available, role descriptions and salary, so that they're prepared for what is coming their way.
"When I've graduated from London College of Fashion a few years ago, my CV already had 5 different internships on high profile magazines so when I heard the word 'internship' again I walked out the room. For how long are recent graduates expected to work for free?
Maybe those working in the industry think interns live out of thin air but we still have bills to pay at the end of the month. If you don't have a wealthy family to support you, the only way to do it is by taking evening and weekend jobs and work insane hours per week. And fashion interns don't necessarily go around events drinking champagne, they actually stay in the office working really hard!
For me, this amounts to modern day slavery and it's not just in fashion but in other creative industries too, where for some unknown reason people have to build a 'name'. So it's much more about your networking skills than your talent. But sometimes those who are not so good at 'selling themselves' may be the ones who could actually bring something much more substantial to the table." Anonymous
Lara Spiller believes in the benefits of working as a fashion intern but also alerts to how hard it can be:
"I would say create some financial security, especially if some of the internships you are looking at are unpaid. It is quite frustrating, but the reality is that many of the fashion brands don't pay their interns. I would advise that students got as much experience as they can while studying, during the holidays or part time, alternatively save up while you're still at university. At one point last year I was working evenings and weekends while interning full time which was so hard."
She explains why she thinks it's still worthwhile:
"Internships are really important because they can help you network so much. Even if you're there for a short amount of time, even two weeks, the amount of people that you can meet and you will never know where they might end up. So it's good to stay in contact for future job opportunities."