Honey, we shrunk the interns!

UK fashion internships are impossible to find. How are young people meant to break into the industry?

The Devil Wears Prada, 2006, David Frankel

Interns are the backbone of the fashion industry. Behind every campaign, show, or issue of a magazine is the blood, sweat, and (sometimes literal) tears of this army of unsung heroes. Doing everything from steaming clothes and making coffee to image research, transcribing, and dragging suitcases full of clothing samples across the city, this somewhat thankless and, more often than not, unpaid graft is part and parcel of fashion. A rite of passage (should you want to climb the ladder) only afforded to those who are willing or able to endure it. 

Since 2018, the number of these opportunities has drastically decreased. In an effort to crack down on unpaid labour, HMRC sent warning letters with threats of penalties to 550 businesses – including publications like British Vogue and Monocle – for masquerading full-time work as internships. The pandemic only exacerbated this, according to a report released by the Sutton Trust in 2020, with 61% of companies cancelling some or all of their placements.