There isn’t one single path to start a career in the fashion industry. It is not like becoming a doctor or lawyer where you know that you need to study the faculty of medicine or law and then take the qualifying test and do an apprenticeship.
Those who work in fashion have different paths and different backgrounds. Some graduated in economics, some in literature, others attended a fashion school and there are even those who studied law and who do not even have a degree (read the story of Hetty, who was a panelist during our London fashion panel and who now works as Jr Stylist at Burberry without a degree).
If it is true that there is no single path to follow to enter the fashion industry, it is also true that there is one thing that groups all those who have started a career in this sector, whatever their previous education or experience was: fashion internships.
All those who work in fashion today have started their career in this industry through one or more fashion internships.
It is not the first time that I say here on Glam Observer that work experience [and networking] are the two fundamental components for a career in fashion. The work experience in the case of those who are at the beginning of their careers, is given by the fashion internships.
The main advantage of a fashion internship is in fact that you’re able to get a job at a company, even the most established in the industry such as Gucci, Chanel, Dior … despite not having yet any work experience or being still a student. The main disadvantage, however, is no small feat: most of the fashion internships are still unpaid or underpaid, which, if added to the fact that if you want to work in fashion you have to move to these cities whose cost of living is not certainly low, it makes everything more difficult and for some, economically not feasible.
One of the emails I get most often is if you can get straight a full-time job just after graduating rather than starting with a fashion internship.
When it comes to full-time jobs, fashion companies usually require on average 1 year of previous experience which you usually get with fashion internships.
However, there is a [only] way to make sure you can get a full-time job as soon as you graduate. And this is it here:
Since the only way to get a full-time job is to have matured from 6 months to 1 year of internship experience, if you want to avoid being an intern just graduated, the only way is to intern during college and accumulate work experience of about one year.
If you are thinking that it is impossible to manage school and work at the same time, you should think twice and be confident that if others have made it, you can do it too. And I have an example of how you could manage it easily and accumulate 9 months of internship experience in 3 average years of university.
You must make the most of the time you’re in school and take advantage of every possible opportunity. If you live your college years passively, then you will not reap the benefits and you cannot expect to obtain excellent results.
Have you ever thought about part-time internships? Generally, they require the presence of the intern for about 2-3 days a week, so you could manage them better with your studies than a full-time fashion internship.
Think if you could get a part-time internship of at least 3 months. 3 months in 3 years of college are not a lot, right?
Some courses include an internship already in the curriculum generally during the last year, but if this does not happen in your school, look for this opportunity yourself in the first, second or third year of college.
Another great opportunity while studying is to intern during the summer, even better if you can make one abroad to double its value on your CV.
If you could combine a part-time internship of 3 months and a summer internship of about 2 months (July and August) for every year you’re in college which on average is 3 years, you would have =
3 months of part-time internship + (3 * 2 months of summer internships) 6 months of summer internships = a total of 9 months of internships at the end of your university.
And let’s face it, it doesn’t seem so difficult, does it?
If you can combine one or two experiences as a volunteer during the fashion weeks of February or September even for just one day, your CV will be perfect as soon as you graduate to look for a full-time job and therefore skip other internships.
It is certainly not the easiest way and requires sacrifices: studying during the weekend and in the evenings to catch up the days you’re working, but it is known that the best things in life require a lot of hard work.
Think about how satisfied you will feel when the day after your graduation a company will be impressed by your CV because you have managed to gain all this experience and above all to manage it while studying.
Think about how your classmates who used to party all weekend, now have to start an internship and stress about how they can afford to do another year without a salary and depend on their parents who have already paid for their studies.
While now you will be able to apply for full-time jobs and start gaining your economic self-sufficiency.
Obviously you will not be able to get yet fashion jobs that require two years of experience but think of all those who are not internships and require about 1 year of experience in the industry. They are a lot and even well paid for a recent graduate!
Furthermore, when you are in school your mind unconsciously knows that you are still a student, so it is not focused on making money, and it is, therefore, more mentally acceptable to do an unpaid internship, which increases your chances of finding one since there are many more unpaid internships than paid ones.
When you graduate everything becomes more difficult because you start to impose filters during the job search: you look for a fashion internship that is paid at least enough to cover expenses, and since you have a degree now, you look for one that doesn’t involve bringing coffee or making photocopies.
Which is absolutely fair after years of hard study, to pretend to carry out tasks like all the others and to make money, it is completely normal and the companies should guarantee all these occasions to anyone, but unfortunately, the reality is that there are still companies that do not pay interns who work 10 hours every day.
Not all the fashion internships are the same and some companies put you directly to work like someone who already has the experience, but in fashion, the stories of interns who bring coffee or run errands, even private ones of their boss, are not rare (do you remember Andy in “The Devil Wears Prada” who did the twins’ homework at night?). So if you didn’t bring some coffee or make photocopies during university, it’s almost likely that you’ll do it when you’ve graduated during your first internship.
The advantage of interning while studying is however not only related to the economic condition but also the important one of timing. Even if you could afford to do unpaid internships after graduation, think about how much time you would save if you already had 9 months or a year of internship at your back. You have saved a whole year which means that you will be able to access prestigious and senior positions already at a young age!
