Entry-Level Jobs in Fashion and Where to Find Them

Have you decided to turn your passion for the fashion industry into your career, but you are just at the beginning and wondering how to get started? 

Well, you are in the right place! At Glam Observer, we have been sharing career tips to get into fashion since 2014. So I am sure you’ll find the answers to many of your questions today. 

Let’s get started. 

Who can apply for entry-level jobs in fashion?

I have been mentoring many fashion enthusiasts for the past years helping them break into fashion and many come to me saying they are seeking entry-level jobs to kickstart their career in fashion. But I have to make an important premise here. Most entry-level jobs in fashion require previous experience. The word “junior” or “assistant” is tricky because it suggests that you can apply as a total beginner. But in reality, entry-level fashion jobs are NOT the first step to breaking into the industry as a student or recent graduate without any experience at all. 

The career ladder in fashion doesn’t look like this: Zero experience –> junior position, or zero experience –> assistant, BUT like this: No experience –> fashion internship –> (entry-level) assistant –>junior –> manager.

When encountering job vacancies such as “Assistant Buyer” or “Junior Editor,” you might think that as a recent graduate without experience, you can apply because of the words Assistant and Junior but it’s imperative to read carefully the job description before you submit your application. 

Some companies use terms such as Assistant interchangeably for both fashion internships and entry-level positions, while others exclusively refer to entry-level jobs.

How to tell the difference? It’s easy, read the job description.

If the job posting doesn’t specify experience requirements, it could mean that, for that particular company, an assistant position is considered akin to an internship, and individuals without experience are encouraged to apply. However, if the job description for any assistant role (such as assistant stylist, designer, buyer, etc.) mentions a need for previous experience in a similar role,  they are looking for someone who has some internships at their back. 

So don’t get discouraged if you have found many entry-level jobs in fashion that require previous experience and therefore you believe that fashion brands hire only people with experience. It’s just that the Assistant position is the next step after internships. 

Besides some exception where Assistant positions/ entry level jobs are open also to recent graduates and people with zero experience, the majority of entry-level jobs in fashion require a little of experience at your back which you get via internships. Fashion internships are your entry ticket to launch your career in the fashion industry. So before applying for entry-level fashion jobs, you have to do at least 1 internship.

And if you believe that taking a master’s in fashion (or one more if you already have a fashion degree) will allow you to skip internships to get a full-time job directly, well that’s not the reality. The truth is that experience is the most valuable thing for your career. Not just because it’s the only way for you to really experience the industry, see how it works, understand it, and decide what’s best for you, but companies value experience more than a new master’s in fashion. Yes, having a degree is necessary, but the one you are already taking or you have taken recently is enough. Even if it’s a traditional degree in economics, literature, art, history, or management. 

If you have zero experience and are looking for your first fashion internship, I suggest you first read this guide about fashion internships and register for my free masterclass.

However, if you already did one or more fashion internships and are looking for your next career move or are transitioning from another industry, keep reading about 6 popular entry-level fashion jobs for those who have some experience.

6 Examples of Entry-Level Fashion Jobs

Assistant Editor

The career ladder to becoming a fashion editor starts with becoming an editorial assistant, after an editorial internship. Editorial assistants work at fashion magazines and they mainly assist the editors with research for the articles, transcribing interviews, and helping the editor with small writing. It can be that you’ll be asked to write some short articles for the online website of the magazine even just as an assistant. 

While for the print issue, you’ll need to wait a couple of years until you are promoted to editor. You could have your name on the first pages of the print issue among the other editors even as just the editorial assistant or intern and that will be so satisfying that you’ll forget about any coffee you had to take. You’ll need to stay in this position for at least 3 years before becoming an editor.

In this article, we talk about the role of the fashion editor and how to land a job in this field.

Assistant Stylist

If you dream of becoming a stylist, you will start your career by assisting another stylist to practice and make yourself a name in the industry. You can either become the assistant of a stylist or get a styling assistant job at a fashion company. The choice depends on whether you already know what you want to do.

If you prefer becoming a freelance stylist with your own clients, styling editorial shoots for magazines, or working with celebrities, then you need to look for a stylist who does that and try to become her/his assistant.

If instead, you prefer the idea of working for a single brand or an online company such as Net-a-Porter to style the looks for E-commerce, marketing campaigns, or fashion shows, you can look for styling jobs at your favorite fashion brands. The tasks are similar, but it’s better to get already into the right circle if you have clear ideas. 

As an assistant stylist, your job will be to help the stylist on set, before and after. Your responsibilities can include packing and unpacking the clothes you need for the shooting, shipping them on and off set, booking travels, organizing the wardrobe, and assisting on set with everything the stylist asks you from dressing up the model to organizing the outfits on the rack.

You’ll probably be an assistant stylist for one year before getting to the next step and starting styling some looks yourself. Every time you are on a set you meet with photographers, models, and art directors. It’s important to leave a good impression because contacts are everything in this job. You could get your next styling job because of a photographer or model you worked with on a previous set. You can start having your own clients after a couple of years you’ve assisted a stylist.  

Read this article to better understand how to get a job as a stylist.

Assistant Buyer

Want to become a fashion buyer of a department store or your favorite brand? Your first job (after one or more buying internships) will be assistant to the buyer.

As a buying assistant, you will assist the buyer by doing things such as analyzing Excel reports and identifying key metrics based on weekly sales, collaborating with the team to develop the assortment strategy, analyzing competitor pricing and trends, assisting in creating purchase orders, track in-season receipts and resolve shipping issues with vendors, attend trade shows and showroom appointments, build relationships with suppliers, etc.

On average, you will need at least 3 years of experience to transition from assistant/junior buyer to becoming a fashion buyer. 

We explain who is a fashion buyer and how to become one in this article.

Marketing Assistant

Do you see yourself building marketing strategies for a fashion brand? Fashion Marketing is a branch that includes different responsibilities and different roles. If you want to work in this field, know there are several opportunities to explore after your first internship in the Marketing Department. As a marketing assistant, you could be working on the digital side as a social media manager, work in influencer marketing, Customer Relationship Management, E-commerce, Brand Management, etc.

As a marketing assistant, your responsibilities can include analyzing customer data, conducting competitive/market research, tracking industry trends, monitoring social media platforms for trending news, ideas, and feedback, helping with planning and hosting of marketing events, contributing to the creation of email campaigns and social media content, etc. Everything depends on the role you choose in Fashion Marketing.

We explain everything about Fashion Marketing jobs and how to land a job in this field in this article.

PR Assistant

If you are interested in working in Fashion PR, you should start with PR Assistant positions, once you complete a fashion PR internship.

Fashion PR assistants help with press monitoring and clippings (aka checking what websites, social media, and magazines mentioned the brand and making a report of these mentions). They manage daily send-outs to the press and returns for fashion media shoots, send invitations to celebrities, press, and influencers for the events, assist with the event date by welcoming guests, and maintain the organization and inventory of the PR closet. 

You can work in-house or at a PR agency. In-house means you are employed by one single fashion brand. When you work for a PR agency you could be working on the different brands the PR agency manages. You could try both to decide what’s best for you.

You will need at least 3 years of experience working as a PR assistant before getting promoted to the role of the senior PR manager. 

Note that experience in Fashion PR won’t only open your door to the PR department, but also to the marketing one. And vice versa; a marketing experience will open opportunities in PR. This is because PR and marketing are two close departments that work alongside. 

We explain everything about how to get into fashion PR in this article.

Assistant Fashion Designer

Want to become the next Coco Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, or Miuccia Prada? You need to start from the bottom by becoming an assistant designer (after a design internship) and work your way up in the design team.

Design assistants assist the Design Team with day-to-day tasks including scanning, sketching, and prepping looks and boards seasonally. They also research trends, create mood boards, and attend fittings. And work with the Tech team to ensure design intent and fits are properly executed. Update sketches and tech packs accordingly. Creating design flats and renderings using Adobe Illustrator. Run garment district errands such as pickups, and sourcing.

Like for any other role, you need on average a couple of years assisting designers before becoming a designer. The path to becoming a creative director instead is a bit longer. And you need to be the one who stands out in the design team just like Alessandro Michele stood out when he was appointed creative director at Gucci after having worked for years in the design department. Not everyone in the design team becomes creative director, of course, some just like being Senior designers. 

Where to find entry-level jobs at fashion and luxury brands

There are so many companies you can work for: luxury brands, fashion brands, fast fashion brands, online retailers (Zalando, MyTheresa..) agencies (PR agencies, trend forecasting agencies).

Start by making a list of your favorite fashion brands and groups (LVMH, Kering, PVH, etc.)

Next, visit the websites of these companies, scroll down to the bottom of the page and you’ll always find a section that says “Work With Us” or “Careers”. Click and start exploring the options. The websites usually give you the option to filter jobs by different things including the location, the department, and the level of experience. Make sure you select only entry-level jobs, so check the options that don’t say “internship” like “permanent job” and “temporary job”. Graduate programs, which usually last 12 months, also offer entry-level jobs for recent graduates. You will then land on a page with all the jobs with different levels of experience, so you need to look for keywords like “Junior” or “Assistant” to spot entry-level positions.

How to find entry-level fashion jobs on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is mostly known for building connections but there are also many internships and entry-level fashion jobs posted there. So if you are not using this platform, you are missing opportunities.

Go to “Jobs” and type the position you are interested in, for example, “PR assistant” or just “fashion” if you are not looking for a particular role. LinkedIn also has the option to filter jobs by location, companies, on-site and remote jobs, and of course the level of experience. Make sure you select internships and entry-level jobs to view only opportunities for people with zero or little experience. 

Where to find entry-level jobs at fashion magazines

If you want to work at Vogue, Marie Claire, Elle, or other fashion magazine, you should first check if there are any current internships or entry-level job offers on the career pages of Conde Nast (which owns Vogue, Vogue Business, Teen Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour…) and Hearst Magazines (Elle, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar…) which own some of the major fashion publications. You should also check the magazines’ individual websites, especially smaller/niche magazines that don’t belong to a media group.

If you want to write for fashion magazines, you should not limit your job search to looking for opportunities online. In fact, writing positions are rarely posted online because writers directly send their pitches (sample articles) to editors. I recommend you do the same to avoid waiting months or even years before a writing position is posted online. I teach how to write for fashion magazines (even if you have never published an article before) in my online course The Fashion Writer Accelerator.

The same advice applies to any other entry-level job at a fashion publication or luxury brand. You should not limit your fashion job research to viewing the offers online but use instead this unconventional strategy below.

How to apply for entry-level jobs in fashion?

Applying for entry-level fashion jobs online is the official and most common way. And you should look for opportunities online. However, this does not mean you should limit your fashion job search to applying for job boards online. Instead, I recommend emailing the companies directly.

Sending a cold email to fashion brands and magazines is my favorite strategy for two main reasons.

One, the number of job offers posted online does not equal the real amount of opportunities in the fashion industry. You have probably heard that many jobs in fashion are assigned through word of mouth, and that’s true, but not because you have to know someone who knows someone; sending a cold email to companies is another way to get in touch with recruiters and land an entry-level job. By doing so, you are basically creating a job opportunity and addressing the company’s needs.

Recruiters might not have posted a job offer online because they didn’t consider the need to hire a new person. By explaining in your cold e-mail the reasons why you want to join their company and how you could be helpful to them, you can appear as a potentially good resource to the company. Or if you don’t see a job offer online, it’s because the company hasn’t posted it YET but is planning to do so in the near future.

The second reason why emailing the companies directly is the best is because you won’t be competing with 500 candidates on average who apply for the same job in fashion. Recruiters indeed receive many applications for entry-level fashion jobs, so if you send a cold e-mail, you avoid this issue. Plus, you don’t have to meet all the requirements that companies mention in their job offers.

Be proactive and cold-email them instead and submit a spontaneous application with a strong resume, a customized cover letter, and a portfolio to maximize your chances of getting noticed among recruiters and landing an entry-level fashion job. Remember, when you apply for an entry-level job in fashion, you are expected to have already some experience at your back, so it’s important to demonstrate it across your application.

I teach more about emailing companies directly as well as other unconventional strategies in my online course Break into the Fashion Industry.

Need help securing an entry-level job in fashion? Register for my free masterclass here and I’ll teach you 5 strategies to impress recruiters. Reserve your seat to the masterclass here.