Where To Find Fashion Jobs And Internships?

Getting a job in fashion may seem like a difficult goal to attain. From the outside, the fashion industry seems like a small world with limited opportunities, where the only way to get a job is if you come from a fashion school or through word of mouth. I used to believe this as well 10 years ago, when I had zero experience in fashion, zero connections, and wasn’t living in a fashion capital. So, I totally relate to what you are going through. Feeling like you want to be part of this world, but at the same time feeling intimidated by it. And lacking information about the tips and places to find fashion jobs and internships.

The reality is that there are plenty of job and internship opportunities for everyone. You just have to know where to look to find them. Before we get started, let’s break down a big myth: you don’t need a fashion degree to work in this industry. The truth is that both those who have studied fashion design or any fashion courses, as well as those who have a “generic” degree in law, communication, engineering … can get a job in the fashion industry. The fashion industry is made of many departments and plenty of career opportunities: from fashion designers, to buyers, editors, and stylists to brand managers and finance specialists. Career options in fashion are so vast, hence why fashion professionals have different backgrounds and didn’t just study fashion. For example, I have a management engineering degree and I ended up getting an internship at Alexander McQueen in the eCommerce department.

Where To Find Fashion Jobs And Internships?

If you are looking for a job or internship in fashion, you are in the right place today because at Glam Observer, our mission since 2014 has been to inspire and help all fashion enthusiasts to break into fashion, with a community of over 2,000 people so far. So in this article, I’ve decided to share with you a roundup of platforms where you can find jobs and internships. Let’s do this!

Where to Find Fashion Jobs?

1) Career pages of fashion brands, magazines and luxury groups

The first obvious thing you want to do when you are looking for fashion jobs at a particular company or magazine is to go to their official website to see if they have any open vacancies. Every brand usually has a “Work with us” or “Careers” section on their website. Usually, you will find a description of the brand and its history, the work culture and the different areas of work, along with a section where the vacancies are posted. You can filter by the brand, location, job area, level of experience, and so on. And submit your application on the company’s website. So whenever you have a specific brand you want to work or intern at, visit their website and scroll down to the footer to find their career pages. 

Another way of searching for job offers is to go directly to the websites of fashion groups: LVMH (that holds 14 fashion houses like Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Christian Dior), Kering (Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta), Prada Group (Prada, Miu Miu, Church’s), Inditex (Zara, Massimo Dutti, Stradivarius), OTB (Diesel, Maison Margiela, Marni), Condé Nast (Vogue, Glamour, GQ), etc. There, you can see all the available jobs at different brands that belong to that fashion group. The good thing about this type of platforms is that all the opportunities are posted in one place. So you don’t have to look at each brand’s website one by one. 

Sometimes, companies offer an option to leave a spontaneous application in their database. But you should consider this as an additional option, and not use this as a single job search strategy. You want to be proactive and not wait for the company to give you a call, right? 

2) LinkedIn

Nowadays, LinkedIn is the most popular and the best social media platform to look for fashion jobs. The best way to find them is to go to the “Jobs” section and type as a keyword the role that interests you. For instance – stylist, fashion designer, fashion copywriter. Or, if you are looking for fashion jobs in general, you can just type “fashion” and the country or city where you want to work. 

LinkedIn has many options to help you in your job search. You can filter by the location, experience level, company and the job type, among others. You can also range the offers by the date posted to see the most recent published jobs first, as they tend to fill up quickly. However, use these filters with moderation, as not all the companies use them. Plus, the more generic search – the better. As you will have more options to choose from, especially at the beginning of your career where you may not be as selective with the brand and the role.

3) Platforms dedicated to the fashion industry and its careers

Another good fashion jobs source is websites related to the fashion industry. If you enjoy reading fashion news, you probably know about Business of Fashion, which also has a rich career section. 

Additionally, there is a great place called Fashion Jobs. You will notice that every country has its own ”Fashion Jobs” page. So you have to select the country of your choice in the search bar. For example, if you are looking for jobs in the USA, you have to type us.fashionjobs.com. Whereas if you are looking for jobs in France, you have to enter fr.fashionjobs.com, and so on.

If you are UK-based, we recommend you to check the Fashion workie website. 

Finally, there is also the Fashion United platform. In my experience, the job offers are more limited compared to other platforms. But it is still a place worth checking to extend your options. 

The search process on all these platforms is similar to Linkedin. So you can play with different filters to find the job opportunities convenient to you.

4) Glam Observer Newsletter

Every Friday, at Glam Observer we send our readers the Inside Fashion newsletter featuring the latest fashion jobs and internships in London, Milan, Paris and New York, as well as the latest fashion news, analysis of trending topics, career advice, and much more! So, if you want to get the best offers for different fashion careers straight to your inbox, sign up today, find the job or internship you like the most, and build your application during the weekend.

Where To Find Fashion Internships?

We always say at Glam Observer that internships are your entry ticket to break into the fashion industry. So if you are currently studying and/or don’t have any experience, then you should look for fashion internships. Because those don’t require any experience or other things except for motivation and passion for the industry. It’s also the perfect opportunity if you are a student or recent graduate, as many internships are reserved for the latter and ask for school credit. 

However, in general, anyone with no or little experience can do an internship. It is a great way to learn in practice about your dream role. Or, if you are indecisive about the career you want to pursue, the internship can help you to understand that better. Every career in fashion offers an opportunity to intern. So whatever your dream job is, there is an internship out there for you from which you can begin your career. For instance, if you are an aspiring writer, then you should look for internships at the editorial department; if you want help organizing events, look for PR internships; and if you want to become a buyer, the ideal option would be to secure an internship at the buying or merchandising department. 

Finally, fashion internships make it easier to get a full-time job. The truth is, if you are at the beginning of your career, or if you are coming from a different industry, it is unlikely you will get your first job as a full-time assistant. So, the more internships you do, the more opportunities you have to find a full-time job. 

So, how do I find fashion internships? 

The search process is very similar to the job search, so you can look for internship offers on the companies’ and fashion groups’ websites. Use LinkedIn, fashion career platforms or discover the latest internships in our Glam Observer newsletter. 

To learn how to land your first job in fashion, read this article.

Working during fashion week as a volunteer backstage is also an interesting first opportunity for those with no experience in the industry. This experience can look great on your CV. And it doesn’t require a lot of time investment as this type of work usually lasts from 1 day to 1 week. However, the process to find these opportunities is a bit different, as you need to email the brands directly. I wrote more about how to get a job during fashion week in this article. 

Email the companies directly: an unconventional strategy to break into the fashion industry

Looking for fashion jobs and internships on these websites is a good way to find career opportunities. However, applying online is just the standard way to get a job in this industry. And it’s harder to get noticed if you go this route. Fashion companies love people who think out of the box. So my best advice for you about landing a job or internship in fashion? Cold-email directly the company where you want to intern and ask them for an opportunity by submitting a spontaneous application with a strong resume and a customized cover letter. This strategy works really well also when you cannot find any job that you like on these websites mentioned above.

Waiting for your favorite brand to post the perfect job or internship for you is such a waste of time and opportunities. Don’t wait for your favorite magazines or brands to post a job or internship online so you can apply, but take the initiative and email them directly. At Glam Observer, our mission is to encourage our readers to be proactive and stand out among other applicants in order to augment your chances of getting an internship.

I teach more about emailing companies directly as well as other unconventional strategies inside this free masterclass.

We hope that you feel more confident by now about your fashion job or internship search. Feel free to explore all the platforms mentioned in this article to extend your options and reach your goal of getting a job or an internship in fashion.