Working at a fashion magazine is for sure the most popular career option in fashion. Probably because of the influence of cult movies such as The Devil Wears Prada, Confessions of a shopaholic and even the recent show The bold type (if you haven’t watched this last one yet, I highly recommend it! You can find it on Amazon Prime Video and Netflix!).
So let’s see what it takes to get a job at a fashion magazine in 2021.
I’m also excited to announce a project with Marie Claire UK! A collaboration to offer 2 fashion internships in the eCommerce and editorial department to Break into the fashion industry students and alumni!
Yes, the eCommerce department because working at a fashion magazine is not just about writing or styling editorials. There are several departments and different roles.
So the first step to getting a job at a fashion magazine is to decide first what kind of job you’d like to get and your favorite department.
Fashion publications operate in two main segments the print and the online division, but even if the distribution is different, the content creation, as well as the operational and business sides, are almost the same so whether you prefer to work on the print or digital segment of the publication, you can consider the departments below. What you should also know is that in some publications there teams of the print and digital are different, while in others they are mixed which means that a fashion editor who writes for the print edition might also be the digital or web editor who writes for the online magazine. Anyway, digital or print, the responsibilities are almost the same.
You can listen this podcast episode on Spotify or Apple Podcast, or keep reading if you prefer.
So let’s see what are some of the careers at a fashion magazine:
There is an editorial team made up of fashion editors who is responsible for the content of the magazine both digital and print. They mainly write articles, style shoots and attend pr events to discover new products and brands…
Supporting the editors are the fashion/editorial assistants or interns who take care of more practical tasks to facilitate the editors’ work such as organizing the wardrobe, assisting on set, transcribing interviews, ‘calling in’ and returning products or clothes from PR’s, writing sometimes…
If you’re at the beginning of your career becoming an intern or assistant is key to get into a fashion publication. That’s why with Marie Claire we have agreed on offering two internships as those who enroll in break into the fashion industry are at the early stage of their careers with no or little experience in the glamourous industry and this kind of job opportunity is the step to get into this industry.
Looking at your favorite magazines you have for sure noticed that lots of the content inside are the campaigns of brands who advertise on the pages. Well there is an entire team that manages the relationships with brands and sell the pages of the magazines. If you believe that magazines make money from the retail price and what you pay every month when you buy it, then well this is not true. The income of a magazine comes from the advertising of brands who buy spaces and pages of the magazine or the page websites.
Some magazines operate and make business also in other new ways. It’s really interesting to see how the publishing industry has evolved especially since the rise of digital and it will be fascinating to see where it goes in the future. Marie Claire offers an internship in the eCommerce department to break students because the UK publication has a section on the website called the Marie Claire Edit where readers can buy directly from the magazine website. On the edit page, you’ll find fashion products, clothes, shoes and bags from different brands and retailers all in one place so you can shop them. Of course, there is a team that manages that and Emily Ferguson is the eCommerce director. One of the GO break students will join as an intern working directly with Emily.
Working at a fashion magazine is also the art director who is responsible for the layout and visual design of the magazine from the cover to the pages. With the design team, they layout the magazine choosing where to add the text and images, to the end product that you read.
Social media are now huge in terms of marketing, branding and building relationships with consumers in the fashion industry and magazines are not an exception. Every magazine has its own Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, TikTok and any other social media platform’s account… from the social media manager to interns, there is an entire social media team that takes care of planning and creating content for the social profiles of the publication.
Then there is a team who takes care of the images of the magazine of course and other roles such as the sub-editors who make sure that the words are perfect and without mistakes.
There are two ways you can work at a fashion magazine: as an employee of the publication or as a freelance. Depending on the roles there are both of these figures working at a fashion publication. Most of the freelancers work there as art directors, stylists and writers. If you are at the beginning of your career you have two options: start as an intern in one of the departments according to your preferences (so if your end goal is to become a fashion editor you need to get an editorial internship, work in the adv or ecommerce department as an intern if you are interested in the business side of the publication, becoming a graphic design intern if your end goal is to then become the art director, social media intern if you want to work with social media). Or if you want to write for the publication you can submit your articles and work as a freelance for your favorite fashion magazines.
Remember that great articles are great articles so you can potentially become a writer even if you have zero experience if you show to editors that you write amazing article for that publication.
You don’t need to have a journalism degree to write for a magazine, there are many famous editors with a degree in psychology, English literature, public relations, communications, business, economics… and even if you are still a student you can definitely write or work there, indeed most of the interns working at fashion magazines are still students!
Ok so now that you have an idea of how a fashion magazine operates and what are the departments and jobs, let’s see how to get an internship and start your career at a fashion magazine.
Most of the people would recommend you to go online, look for internships and apply when you find some. But this is not the strategy I recommend for a competitive industry such as fashion and especially if you don’t want to waste weeks or months until your favorite fashion magazines post a new internship opportunity online. The strategies that my students use are unconventional ones that go beyond the standard application. Impressing the recruiters, editors and managers with a creative application is the key ingredient to break into the fashion industry quickly especially if you can’t count on lots of fashion experience to show on your resume, and when you didn’t study fashion.
I highly recommend you to cold email or do a spontaneous application if you want to get a job at a fashion magazine, so don’t wait for your favorite magazines to publish an internship opportunity to apply. Eman, one of my students of break into the fashion industry in the course learned how to find the email of every editor and in general, people working in fashion and she used the email templates and landed a job at CRFashionBook and L’Officiel with this strategy! She also took my fashion writing course where she also learned more about the pitching side of articles. She’s currently working remotely for the publication so you could do it even if you are not living in a fashion capital!
Before emailing the fashion publication make sure that your CV is brilliant and tailored to the publication. According to the department, you’ll want to work in, you have to add the correct keywords to your CV. So for example, if you want to work in the social media department you’ll highlight more skills related to social media, while if you want to work in the editorial department you’ll have to push your writing and organizational skills more. As I said the role of an intern or assistant is to facilitate the work of the editor so even if you’re an amazing writer, you’d still need strong organizational skills to manage your main task as a fashion intern or assistant.
You’ll have more chances to land the job if you prove your skills with some samples of your work. You can create a short portfolio to send over as a PDF along with your CV. In your portfolio you don’t only need to add previous work projects, they can be samples that you create ad hoc for this position even if you have no previous work experience! Also here as with your CV, the portfolio should showcase work related to the internship you want to get. The portfolio of an aspiring fashion writer will be different from an aspiring art director or social media editor.
Creating also a website is a plus when it comes to working with a fashion magazine. You could create your own fashion blog to publish your articles if you want to land a job as an editorial assistant and then become a fashion editor, or a website that shows some graphic designs if this is what you want to do.
Especially when you’re at the beginning of your career, demonstrating directly your skills instead of just writing them as a list on your resume is much more effective.
Just by creating your own website, you not only demonstrate your skills based on the type and quality of content that you post but you automatically acquire and demonstrate skills such as the use of content management system platforms such as WordPress or Squarespace that are much appreciated by recruiters and fashion editors.
Don’t underestimate the power of networking also here. Like for any other career in fashion, your connections are one of the most powerful career tools you have. Luckily even if now you have zero connections, you can go over to LinkedIn and Instagram and connect with your favorite editors, art directors, stylists, photographers, and other freelancers wherever they and you, are based. Perfect also for introverts as you’ll build connections mostly via emails and messages!
Most of the jobs in fashion are assigned through word of mouth, which means that if you can build your network in the right way, those connections might recommend you for a position. Furthermore, by even just following these people on LinkedIn and Instagram you’ll stay up to date with the latest job opportunities! Those who work in fashion usually publish on their IG stories or LinkedIn if they are looking for a new intern or assistant, so if you don’t follow them you are missing some career opportunities!
If you’re ready for the next step I’m currently offering 100€ OFF the course break into the fashion industry on the occasion of this partnership with Marie Claire!
