How to Get a Fashion Design Internship

The world of international fashion and design can be fast-paced and glamorous. Yet before you can design for the catwalks in Milan, you have to pay your dues in hard work and dedication. This means securing yourself an internship at a designer fashion house to let those who have gone before you show you the ropes.

1. Educate yourself. Even a virtuoso of fashion design will be expected to have a degree in their pocket. Getting yourself into an accredited fashion design school is your very first step to designing for a fashion house or label. Placement in a fashion design school provides you with your initial resume filling information as well as place you in an environment where you can network with others who share your interests and passions. Your degree not only demonstrates to your potential employers a certain level of competence and understanding of design, it also provides the assurance that you have what it takes to see a difficult task through to its end.


2. Know what you face. The competition for fashion internships is as stiff as it is fierce. Generally speaking, you will be expected to relocate in one of the fashion-centric cities around the world and maintain your living expenses while working without recompense. You are expected to work hard and learn swiftly as well as maintain your own living standards without the assistance of paid fashion work. This does not mean that it is impossible to achieve your dream, thousands do it daily. It simply means that you must plan carefully in order to make ends meet while you pay your dues. 


3. Create a cover letter and resume. You cover letter should outline your education and a bulleted list of your skills, passions and personal information pertaining to the world of fashion. Your resume should be tailored to fit the internship you are seeking to fill. Keep things short, sweet and include only the information pertinent to the internship. Do not attempt to "dress up" your cover letter or resume by including colored papers or graphics on the page.


4. Sketch. Chances are anyone interested in having you fill an internship with their company or label wants to see what your design work looks like. It’s important to begin building a fashion design portfolio as soon as possible and to continue to update it with fresh ideas and sketch work. You want the designs to be eye catching but not overwhelming, so keep your lines clean and lowing and add colors where they will provide the best effect and lend your work a visual "pop." Create your portfolio using traditional media as well as a computer tablet and stylus coupled with a painting program like Corel Painter 12 to demonstrate flexibility. 


5. Submit your resume. There are a wide variety of websites that list internship openings in the fashion industry. Free Fashion Internships is just one among many that you can visit to get your cover letter and resume out to the people who are actually looking to hire interns. Making use of these websites means you will only be sending your resume out to people actually interested in hiring, which saves you time and frustration. Be wary of sites that demand cover fees or monthly rates as this may be an effort to part you from your money. Some sites requiring a paid membership are completely legitimate, but taking the time to run a search of their name through the website of the Better Business Bureau is just good sense.