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Nothing Good Happens After Midnight
By admins | December 22, 2009
Flickr image via Christiaan’s view
Remember the old adage our mothers and grandmothers used when we wanted a later curfew, “Nothing good happens after midnight. What do you need to be doing after midnight that can’t be done before?” Well, we believe this pearl of wisdom should also apply to working hours. And ideally midnight should be changed to 6pm. The fact of the matter is, in the fashion industry ridiculously late nights and unbearable working hours are par for the course. We’d like to call bullshit on that practice and see an end to it immediately. What fashion industry executives don’t seem to get is, overworking your design staff does not make your company more profitable. Unlike many jobs, when a designer is overworked and burned out, their creativity is compromised and in turn their exhaustion DIRECTLY effects the product. Creativity on demand after extended hours, leads to forced unoriginal designs, which leads to a fall in profit. It is absurd to work designers the way many companies do; and it’s not surprising that so many brands see their reputations and sales plummeting as a result.
So where does this current rant come from? Well, one of our contributors was recently on an interview at a major apparel company for a design position. The first question she was asked was not, “Can I see your portfolio?” or, “What is your design aesthetic?” but rather, “Can you start tomorrow and work straight through the holidays?” Straight through the holidays; what did that mean exactly? Well exactly that, straight through the holidays including the weekends with only Christmas day and New Years day off. Meaning, yes, she would be working 7 days a week, including Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. Before she could even respond the Head Designer asked, “And you don’t mind working late hours do you?” Well, what did he mean by late? With a straight face and a completely unsympathetic the Head Designer answered, “Any where from 10pm to 2 am.” WTF, seriously, is that what this industry has come to? Is that what we all went to college for? Do we all want to spend the holidays with our families, or in a rundown office working on techpacks?
Sadly, this situation is not unique. And it is not simply the 16 hour days that make it so miserable. The working conditions a designer would be immersed in for this 80+ hour work week are completely unacceptable. This particular company, due to recession cutbacks, was not buying any new office furniture, so all new hires were subjected to working these hours while sitting in folding chairs! Not to mention, during this frigid time of the year most of these high-rise Garment Center office buildings shut off their heat at 6pm. Thus forcing designers to be hunched over their computers typing away in scarves and gloves until the wee hours of the morning. Companies are so beholden to the notion that fashion design is such a desirable and competitive field, that execs don’t think twice forcing people to work unreasonable hours in poor conditions.
We tried to think of a job that requires a college education, expects these long hours, and horrible conditions, but couldn’t think of one. Careers in law, finance, or business, require long hours, but they’re provided excellent working conditions i.e. ergonomically correct chairs, stocked kitchens, car service home for late night, and umm heat! Also, they are paid decimal points more to make up for the long hours and loss of a personal life. The only profession that comes close is perhaps a young doctor or resident, they endure long hours, a rough work environment, and low pay. However, at least when they are deliriously exhausted, burned out, and broke, they can justify these conditions at the end of the day because they are saving lives, not just producing another striped polo shirt. And of course they have job security, benefits, and the knowledge that one day they will be paid appropriately!
This rant on the excessive hours in the fashion industry got us thinking about previous post. This article by the lovely Gilda discusses the crazy schedule of a Parson’s student. We received a very interesting comment from an outside observer with a unique perspective on the industry that we’d like to share;
Our daughter is currently in Foundation Year 1 at Parsons and in my opinion the workload is ridiculous. The social time is almost nil and the purpose of going to such a neat school in such a great city is the experience that the combination will give you as you pursue your goals.
You can not have free thought and generate ideas without proper sleep, time to reflect and to relate to your fellow students.
I have two degrees, an HBA (’80) and an MBA (’02)and although I remember some very tough times with workload, I do not remember periods such as what my daughter is going through.
RS
The irony is, as much as we sympathize with these students, if the intent of an education is to prepare you for the reality of the industry, it seems Parson’s has hit the mark. But as we, and this lovely commenter, have pointed out, the results of these fashion industry working condition are of no service to anyone. There is an inherent flaw in the system, which results in the merchandise suffering. So for all you shoppers, next time you walk through the mall and shake your head at all the uninspiring, generic items, ask yourself this: what designs would you come up with, on no sleep, little money, at 1am in the freezing cold? Exactly!
Here is more related scoop;
Topics: fashion industry, jobs, rant | 9 Comments » 
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December 23rd, 2009 at 12:05 am
Hells yeah!! Thank you, thank you, thank you for this!
This has been my biggest problem with fashion since I started working in it. And like you said, it just doesn’t make sense, it helps NOBODY! Including the bottom line!
Now, what can we do???
December 23rd, 2009 at 1:43 am
I remember the feeling of not sleeping for 3 days straight as a parsons student as well as now working late nights at work in the industry. But definitely not to the extent described above! I doubt the conditions will change but hopefully they will one day at least be tolerable and reasonable.
December 23rd, 2009 at 5:05 am
You just reminded me of my hell dayz as an I-banker working without heat and light LOL! The building used to turn it off after 5pm – bastards!
But yes, we did get a car/food/expense card, so you are right – it is BULLSHIT to think people can be creative in a hellhole environment.
ps – they do something similar in the airline industry…making pilots works 24-48 hour shifts with NO sleep = plane crashes…don’t execs see the connection!?!
December 23rd, 2009 at 1:31 pm
God, what an unsupportable situation. How can they think they get anything good out of exhausted and stressed staff? It’s like the industry is in the dark ages. And yes, in finance people work like that to retire young and rich, and of course aren’t in untenable work environments.
December 23rd, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Its all bullshit and they do it because they can! end of story!
Even when we leave a job there is always some fashion grad willing to take the abuse and in this town who can afford to just quit!
December 23rd, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Appalling.
December 27th, 2009 at 11:02 am
That interviewer was just looking for slave labor-how ridiculous! I hope that the person looking for a job just walked out in outrage.
December 31st, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Extended hrs only (beyonda 10 hr day, except during costing, then 12 hr days for 2 wks)happen to employees new to the industry or people with no life. Mostly recent grads, I guess it’s all part of earning your “chops”.
Keep in mind, once you start traveling to vendors/ftys you will have days in the fty were you stay till midnight, maybe 2 in morning.
I remember being customs facility in Thialand were fabric must stay for 2 wks, but there is a cutting rm & sewing dept where you may have the items put together prior to exit(at least it was like that in the 80’s, I now hang mostly in HK, mainland China, Korea, & Turkey). Anyway, cutters didn’t show, so me & the sourcing manager carried bolts to a second flr, layed the goods, & cut(this process began at 2 a.m.). At the time it was a horrible exp, but I was young & new to NYC, so I didn’t know if this would happen time to time. Nevertheless, great “war story” & I’m sure many are still to come, it’s work, interesting situation, exotic locations, love the industry or leave it:)
February 1st, 2010 at 1:25 pm
Thank you so much for your insight. I’m about to graduate and start my career in the industry, and I’ve been wondering lately what I’ve gotten myself into. After being a hairstylist for 10 years, I went back to school to hopefully have better working conditions (for my body anyway). So the prospect of putting in all that time and money to be slave labor is depressing. I now know to look out for companies like this and some warning signs. I hope to find a small to mid-level company that is more attentive to employees needs, this seems to be the best balance of hardwork and well being I’ve found in the hair industry.
Thank you again for this blog and the information you give to someone outside of the industry. It has been a great help!