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Fashion Internships After Lauren Conrad
By admins | May 5, 2009
So you want to work in fashion? You dream of a glamorous career in the fashion industry, spending your days working with talented designers, traveling abroad, attending fashion shows, and getting paid gobs of money to be your most creative self. The idea many people have of the fashion industry is really just a mirage, and not at all indicative of the real business of fashion. There are many wonderful attributes, even some mentioned above, that do make working in fashion a rewarding and desirable field. However the truth is, with all the good comes the bad and the hard work as well. Fashion is not an “easy” career path and this is especially true for the NYC fashion world. If you are not a strong and capable person to begin with than this is not the place for you. When deciding on a career, one of the first things that students do is an internship. The wonderful thing about an internship is it gives you a real world glimpse into your future industry. Unlike what you learn in school or see in the movies, a fashion internship is often a wake up call to young people on the stresses and challenges of their chosen career path. Unfortunately the misconceptions that films and TV give of working in the fashion industry have been matched by the unrealistic fictionally glamorized life of an intern courtesy of The Hills. Thanks to MTV a whole generation of young people see a fashion internship as a fun, empty headed, way to spend a summer and the reputation of fashion as a fluff job continues. Thanks LC!
Now, landing a coveted fashion internship position can often be as competitive as getting that first job. We really believe that fashion internships are an invaluable resource for the fashion student. No doubt, you will be spending the majority of your day running errands, steaming clothes, filing, and packing samples, rather than designing new lines or shopping the market. It is still an important educational experience. Basically if you can handle working your butt off in a high stress environment, doing menial labor for no pay, then upon graduation you’ll surely be ready for a job in the fashion industry! This is all assuming, of course, that you are able to get an internship in the first place. Despite the celebrity and media impression that fashion industry internships are as prevalent as Starbucks in NYC, they are actually few and far between. This is especially true considering the shear number of students from around the world that want to come to New York and work in the business. Unfortunately the “vanity internship” where in celebrities, who clearly don’t need a job, play intern for publicity, gives the wrong impression of what being an intern really is. How can we forget when Kanye West decided that he wanted to be a fashion intern, and a month later he was not just interning, but “designing” at Louis Vuitton. The most famous of celebrity interns are, of course, Lauren Conrad and Whitney Port of the Hills who interned at Teen Vogue. According to The Hills being a fashion intern involves a lot of partying, a lot of clubbing, wearing expensive designer clothing, and a lot of deep sighing while simultaneously hair twirling. But the best part, according to MTV, is upon finishing your internship you will receive your very own clothing label. Last year New York’s own, most arrogant hockey player ever, Sean Avery decided he wanted to be like LC too, so off he went for his very own Vogue internship. Just down the block from us, Sean was slaving away at Conde Nast, yeah right! Just like all other vanity internships, he got the celeb treatment as well. NY Magazine did a great piece after Sean’s internship PR stunt with real Vogue interns and what it’s really like. We highly recommend checking out their piece, especially if you are looking for a career in fashion publishing.
For those of you who are indeed serious about a career in fashion, an internship is something to approach professionally. Do not go into it with The Hills lifestyle in mind, being an intern is not glamorous. Remember that from your employer’s perspective your first priority is to be of help, from your school’s perspective it is to learn. We caution against entering your internship with an LC attitude, a few particular pet peeves to avoid are: complaining, showing up late, making personal calls, asking for time off, asking to leave early, crying, name dropping, social climbing with execs, and any sort of diva like attitude. If there is one bit of advice we would give all interns it is, be willing and be humble! It is an especially great time to find internships during a recession. As companies are cutting back on payroll they are hiring fewer candidates and spending less on payroll, so there is a strong appeal towards the unpaid intern. Even for recent grads that may have difficulty getting entry level or assistant jobs right now, going the intern route may be a good move if you can afford it. So if you are on the hunt for an internship right now, here are two fantastic resources for you, Free Fashion Internships and Daily Fashion Jobs. Best of luck to you future fashion interns and go in with your eyes open, knowing reality TV is not reality.
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Topics: fashion industry, jobs | 12 Comments » 
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May 5th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Brilliant post.
I loved all your points, and i think you gave awesome advice.
thnx <3
May 5th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
just wondering, do you happen to work in the fashion industry?
May 6th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Fashion, like any other industry, can be competitive and it’s unglamorous work, much of it, so I think a person really needs to have the drive and the dedication to make it work… Internships are a great starting point, especially if someone knows early on in their college days that they want to give it a shot. Also for all you career switchers out there who are wondering whether internships can open doors– apply! You never know!
May 6th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
great advice for interns in all industries.
May 6th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Cici- Yes, we all work in the industry and the writer of this particular post is a senior designer who has hired many an intern in her time
Dreams- Well said and good point about the career switchers!
FH- Thanks for the support.
May 8th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
[...] Fashion Internships After Lauren Conrad (via 34th and Broadway) [...]
May 13th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Thank you for spreading some reality! I knew it couldn’t be that easy. :-)
May 29th, 2009 at 10:04 am
I’m bout a month late. But THANK YOU!!!!! So very much for the input…you do not know how I have struggled with telling people that…. and I’ve been in the business for more than 11 years!!!
It is so hard to be in a industry that is so slaved and having to see create an illusion o what it is to be in the industry…But I do not only blame the hills I also blame the designers themselves, wall streets influence, marketing, and the creator show of it Sex and The City.
Thank You for this read… helped to ease me a bit while going through the process of rebooting my computer.
8)
June 17th, 2009 at 4:00 am
Thanks for that post, I’ve been looking to move into fashion but am doing something totally different at the moment and wondered how easy it is to change careers into this?
May 24th, 2010 at 3:52 am
hi there, really cool advice but eagerlly wanted to join fashion industry n this make me more strong for my will……
April 17th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
I recently started interning at Conde Nast with Lucky magazine and trust me its anything but glamorous! Of course gaining experience somewhere as big as a publication will open some doors and do alot for your resume however its not about the prestige of the internship. Its about knowing that this is what you want to do. I want to get into fashion PR so i figured the editorial side of fashion might help me since its the opposite side of a designer or a PR agency.
November 16th, 2011 at 1:00 am
It essentially solved my problem, thanks!