The Truth About Fashion Internships
The season of internship applications is upon us. Perhaps the most stressful aspect is anticipating a response, but once you get an offer, a huge weight is lifted. In a few short months, you’ll be a working woman (or man… The alliteration here was an opportunity I could not pass up).
For many, a fashion internship is the dream. Being around insanely stylish people, watching designers work, passing by models, wearing your absolute best outfit to the office—the allure is undeniable.
But, there are some sides to such a coveted internship that you should probably know about before committing to the fashion business for the summer.
I asked a few people to share their experiences with their internships. Their names will remain anonymous, but their stories will tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Intern #1
“Working in the fashion industry is very grueling but also rewarding. When I interned for a fashion brand on QVC, I was tasked with a lot of tedious and time-consuming work. Whether it was daily errand runs to our distributors in the garment district of NYC or steaming clothes for photoshoots, I was constantly busy. There’s also a-not-so-glamorous side of the fashion industry that most don’t see. Every time new clothes arrived at our office, I was tasked with measuring inseams and describing color patterns for our own personal records. On the outside, fashion is expression and creativity. But while working behind the scenes, fashion is more than meets the eye.
And then there were the not-so-great parts of my experience, though they’re funny to look back on. When I wasn’t doing substantial work, I was sent on excursions all over the city—returning $3,000 Gucci shoes and grocery runs to Trader Joe’s for my boss and a weekly trip down to SoHo to pick up my boss’s favorite vegan cookies.”
Intern #2
“This past summer, I interned at a couture fashion house. It was a small company with about 25 employees. The intimate office setting afforded me the opportunity to learn about all aspects of the business, which I significantly took advantage of.
On top of those 30 employees, there were about 13 unpaid interns. If I'm honest, I would say the hiring of the interns appears to be more about quantity rather than quality, and the program was extremely unorganized. There were many days where multiple interns were sitting in the break room, waiting for instructions or a task. However, on my first day, the head of the company sat me down and told me to be nosy, stick my head into offices, and ask questions, claiming it was the only way to learn and get the most out of my experience here.
Not going to lie, I was intimidated at first. All the other interns were studying fashion and could tell the difference between Rayon and crêpe, and the percent of silk a fabric was by just touching it. Despite all my seasons of Project Runway, I lacked this level of expertise. However, this disadvantage motivated me to work harder, ask more questions, and take in every opportunity to learn anything and everything.
A lot of my summer was me sticking my nose into people's offices, seeing what they were working on, and asking how I could help. The people in the office took notice of this, and thus when they needed help with things, I was their go-to girl and never to get them coffee or lunch. I learned a lot in my three months of interning. I was able to work Market Week, see the behind the scenes of PR, and network with industry professionals.
My hard work this summer paid off, and I was one of the few interns invited back to help work the show at NYFW.”
Intern #3
“I interned at a high-end fashion company this summer in New York City. I’ve lived in the city for a few summers now and have had a lot of great experiences in the fashion world, like going to sample sales with people who were friends of the designers or fun trunk shows. At all of these events, I was treated like a guest, and every person asked my name and where I was from. In the fashion business, this is just not the case. And this isn’t to say that the people I worked with were mean, they just didn’t have the time to be outwardly and overly kind. My first day, the only person who spoke to me was the woman who hired me and my fellow interns. People slowly started to get more talkative, but this was certainly a wake-up call.
The other thing about this internship is that it was unpaid. This was massive stress, especially comparing myself to my friends, who were making real money over the summer. When I ran errands, I used my own MetroCard. I spent a lot of money just to be there each day.
I spent a good amount of time sitting on the couch on my laptop making Pinterest boards and researching design details. Some days were underwhelming, but other days were the complete opposite.
Going to a school like ours, there really isn’t much of a fashion outlet. So the first time I sat in and watched a design meeting, I was blown away. Watching the process of an entire line being created was unreal.
I also got to assist on two photoshoots, most of which was getting coffee, steaming clothes, and running up and down stairs. But I also got to offer my own ideas for the shoots.
I orchestrated an entire model casting with the top modeling agencies. The girls who walked through the doors were some of the people I follow on Instagram, which was insane. (The models were probably the nicest people I met all summer.)
Despite all these things, it was an incredible experience, and I am so grateful that I was able to do it. I also know now that this is, in fact, the industry I want to be in post-graduation.”
Have your own stories to tell about your internship experience in fashion? We would love to hear them. Tag us @theedgemag to be featured.