How To Write A Fashion Cover Letter 

Ready to apply for the dream fashion position you’ve just found? 

You might find yourself busy trying to build a great resume, but what you probably didn’t know is that together with your CV, there is also something else you need to start writing to apply for a job or internship in fashion: a cover letter. 

While a cover letter may be optional for some positions, it’s usually a good idea to include one in any application you submit. Why? Because the fashion industry is hiring for potential. Recruiters want to know more about your personality, and the reason why you want to get the job and be part of the team, which is something you can only express through a cover letter.

Fashion recruiters use cover letters to get a sense of how well each candidate would fit in with their company culture, so they are not only concerned about your education, experience, and skills (because many people have them and you can use them for multiple jobs) but also your mindset and values, what type of person and professional you are.

Indeed, just checking all the boxes is not enough to get the fashion job of your dreams. Many hiring decisions are made by a gut feeling and the impression of the candidate. So, my advice is to go beyond the technical part of listing your background and skills in the resume, and tell more about yourself and what you like about that specific brand and position in the cover letter.

I am going to explain the difference between a resume and a cover letter towards the end of this article, but first, I want to share with you a few tips on how to write the perfect fashion cover letter.

How To Write A Fashion Cover Letter 

What’s a cover letter? 

A cover letter is a half-page document that goes alongside your resume when applying for any job. Think of it as your introduction to the company and the recruiter. It’s as if you were talking to them to introduce yourself, but it’s written. You use the cover letter in your fashion job applications to add more information about yourself and your skills and why you want this particular job at this specific company. Your fashion cover letter gives you the chance to make a difference in your application by telling your story, motivation, and passion for the brand and the position. 

What to include in a fashion cover letter?

Contact details 

The first thing you want to mention in your cover letter is your contact details. They usually go on the top left corner where you list: your full name, address, phone number, and email. Then, on the next line on the right, you mention the person you are writing to, the company, and the address. Below, add the date and city you are writing from, for example: London, February 4th, 2024.

The title 

After your contact details, add a line where you mention the name of the job offer for example, “Fashion editorial assistant at [Company Name]”.

Address your fashion cover letter to the right person 

This may sound trivial, but it is so important to open your cover letter by greeting your recipient by his or her name by writing Dear Ms or Mr [name] instead of a generic Dear Sir or Madam. This detail can say a lot about you, how well you did your research about the company, and how serious you are about applying for this job. If you don’t address the person by his or her actual name, the recruiter will think you didn’t do your research.

More than a year ago I opened a fashion editorial assistant position here at Glam Observer, and I didn’t consider any application with a generic cover letter that said: To Whom It May Concern. In the job description, I mentioned the Editorial Assistant would have worked alongside me, so addressing the cover letter to me Dear Giada, was an important detail that showed me if someone really knew about the company Glam Observer and read carefully the job description (aka if someone is attentive to detail).

Spend your time finding the person to whom you should address your fashion cover letter. Sometimes you will find the name of the recruiter directly in the vacancy if you are applying on LinkedIn, for example. In other cases, if that information is not specified and you cannot find it by yourself by searching on LinkedIn, it’s better to say “Dear Dior Team”, or “Dear Vogue Team” than to say “To whom it may concern”. 

Write an introduction

Now, let’s start writing the body of your cover letter. In the first paragraph, aka your introduction, you should briefly introduce yourself but first, start with a mention of the company and how you found out about the role. Say something like “As an admirer of [company name], I was excited to see a Fashion Internship open”. This part should be brief and make the reader curious to read the rest of the letter, so try finding a way to draw their attention.

Say why you want to work in this fashion company

Following the introduction, you need to explain in the second paragraph why you want this specific position at this specific fashion company. I really insist on the “why”, because this is the question that the recruiter will have in mind while reading your application: why is this person applying, and why should I hire him/her? Make sure you provide the answers to that question because there is nothing worse than hanging with this question in the air.

Even if you are applying to other jobs, the recruiter still wants to feel special, and they are looking for people who are genuinely passionate about the job and the company, so you should demonstrate that. You can mention that you share the same values, that you like the brand (and why), and that the tasks needed for that role are related to your studies and work history, or that this is the career path you want to take. Remember that this is a personalized fashion cover letter, so share your personal reasons and motivation to get that job or internship. You know you can’t just say “Because I love fashion”, right? 

Why are you the ideal candidate for this fashion job?

In the third paragraph, you should talk about what makes you the ideal candidate for the job. This is your opportunity to explain how the skills you added to your resume apply to this position. Highlight the relevant skills and connect them to the responsibilities that you will have or develop in a particular work experience. List those skills in bullet points and give concrete examples of how you’ve acquired them. Remember: don’t make the cover letter about you, but try to look from the company’s perspective by answering what added value can you bring to the company.

Write a conclusion

Finally, you have to conclude your cover letter. You can sum up your letter and add some final thoughts by saying that you could be a good fit for each other. Thank the reader for his/her time to read your application and add a sentence or two with a call to action, saying something like you are looking forward to hearing from him/her and that you would be happy to provide more information during a job interview. 

Structure of a fashion cover letter

The cover letter should always contain an introduction, a development part, and a conclusion.

Note that as far as the development part is concerned, you can mix and organize the information in paragraphs 2 and 3 as you wish, as long as your cover letter answers the core questions of why you want this job and why they should hire you. 

Tips to write a good fashion cover letter

Write a personalized fashion cover letter

While I do always suggest tweaking your resume anytime you apply for a new job by playing with the keywords of the job, the place where you can really boost the personalization of a job application is a cover letter. However, if you are using the same cover letter to apply for multiple fashion jobs and internships, it means it’s not personalized enough and therefore it won’t be effective.

It’s absolutely necessary that you write a new cover letter anytime you apply for a new job so you can personalize it to the brand. This means researching the company, understanding the employer’s needs and job requirements (so you should read the job description carefully) and expressing your reasons to join that specific company and role. By sharing your reasons and motivation to join that particular company and position, your application will be perceived as more personal and genuine, and the recruiter will feel more connected to you. As a result, they may invite you for a job interview.

Research the fashion company

Many fashion job applicants “lose points” in their application by not showing they did research about the company they are applying to. Truth is, you can personalize the cover letter only when you know everything about the company.

Start by doing some research about the brand to collect as much information as possible that can be used in your cover letter to show your knowledge about the brand. Companies want to know that you know their history and understand their mission.

Go online and visit the fashion brand’s websites and specifically pages such as Values, Our Company, Our brand, etc. You will find all the information you need there.

Build a clear structure

A good cover is recognizable by a clear structure. It should be divided into several paragraphs as explained above so that the reader can follow your ideas more easily. You can use ready cover letter samples to help you with that. I have prepared different cover letter templates in my “Break into the fashion industry” course.

Proofread

Another important thing is to check the cover letter for any typos, grammatical errors, and spelling mistakes. Sending an application filled with different kinds of mistakes doesn’t look professional, and it can even be a turning point in the recruiter’s decision not to invite you to a job interview. So make sure you don’t give the wrong impression because even though you may look like an excellent candidate based on your skills, experience, and what you say in general in your application, spelling mistakes can be penalizing. 

Be concise

Be concise and go straight to the point. There is a lot you may want to say, but you just have half a page to do that. Oh yes, did we say it had to be half/one page long? Think that the recruiter receives 500 applications on average, so he doesn’t have the time to read long resumes and cover letters. So do not beat around the bush, and make his job easier. Plus, being concise is a great skill to have in general in your job. 

Do not repeat the same information as in your fashion CV

Keep in mind that a cover letter should not be a repetition of your resume, but present new and the most exciting information that will catch the recruiter’s attention and make you stand out among other applicants. Use the cover letter to add context, examples, and real experiences, to explain what you wrote on your resume. Remember that the hiring manager already saw your resume, so by repeating the same information, you’re missing the chance to tell them something else that can get you the job.

Be genuine

All that tips taken into account, my last advice for you is to be yourself. Even if you are writing about technical things related to the job and your skills, try to show through your cover letter the person who is behind it. 

Fashion Cover Letter Example

To help you better visualize what a cover letter for a fashion job/internship should look like, here is an example.

This is an example of what you could write to apply for a job or internship in fashion PR, but you can follow the same structure for any role in fashion.

This is just the development part to give you an idea of how to explain your motivations and skills, so don’t forget to add an introduction and a conclusion paragraphs when you write your own fashion cover letter.

Where should I send a fashion cover letter?

I recommend you write your fashion cover letter on a separate PDF document that you can upload online alongside your resume when you apply directly through a job board or attach to your email if you are emailing your favorite companies.

When you email companies and people directly, the cover letter can also go in the body of the email directly.

How to create a fashion video cover letter?

Sending a written cover letter will already give you bonus points aka enhance your chances of getting noticed by fashion recruiters. But there is another trick to stand out among a pool of applications: sending a video cover letter.

You can send a video cover letter both when you apply for a fashion job/internship that the company has posted but also when you send a cold application.

Don’t look at the video cover letter as a long presentation but rather a short introduction about yourself and the first touchpoint to connecting with the recruiter. Seeing and hearing you will indeed make your application more personal, and as I already said, personalizing your application/cover letter is the key to landing a fashion job or internship.

To keep it simple and save the recruiter’s time, your video cover letter should be as short as 1 minute. Briefly explain who you are, what you do (studying, interning, working…), what you admire about that company, why you want to work there, and
why you are a good fit for that fashion job/internship.

You can record a video cover letter on Zoom. However, I do not recommend attaching your video directly to the email because if the file is too big your emails might end in spam or never be delivered. So you can use Loom (it’s free) or another program that can create a link with your video and you can paste it into your email.

The difference between a resume and a cover letter

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While having a brilliant resume is the first step to landing a job in fashion, it is no longer enough, as companies expect more from candidates in this extremely competitive industry. See the cover letter as an extension to your resume, as you explain the skills you added to your resume with concrete examples. While the resume is schematic and cold, the cover letter should show your personality, enthusiasm, and interest that make you the ideal candidate for the job.

And because of this different kind of content and approach, a good cover letter can immediately build a relationship with whoever is reading it.

Many hiring decisions are in the end based on a gut feeling and the connection that a recruiter feels with someone, so your cover letter is your first step to start building a relationship with the hiring manager that you can then strengthen during the job interview. 

When you are at the beginning of your career in fashion, your resume is normally short, so the cover letter will be even more important to land your first job or internship. All of your passion for the fashion industry and the job or internship you are applying to must shine through in your application, and a cover letter is your best ally at that. 

The truth is, the recruiters know that if you’re applying for internships it’s because you don’t have that much actual experience behind you so they will focus on other ways to decide whether someone is worth inviting over for a job interview. They base their decision on your application strategies (are you using unconventional strategies showing them you think out of the box?) and other documents such as your cover letter. So if you are a student or recent graduate, bet on your cover letter more than your CV and use it to convince a recruiter that you have a strong passion for the job and the industry. Show them your why. You might not have that much actual experience behind you, but your cover letter could blow your future boss out of the water and put you straight on the interview shortlist. 

A well-written cover letter can help you stand out from the rest of the competition and it’s actually the document that can make you end in the shortlist of those they want to interview.

Hence why you should always, always include a cover letter, even when it’s not requested. 

The cover letter is also useful if you don’t have a degree in fashion, or want to make a career transition into this industry to explain why you want to work in fashion now.

Now you know all the tools to write a brilliant cover letter, so make sure to use them to land your dream fashion job.

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