Five Tips for Fashion Interns

As a part of a recent panel at London College of Fashion, our director Chloe gave advice to students about how to secure an internship and make a good impression. Here she shares her five top tips...

- Perseverance
If someone doesn’t respond to your application straight away, don’t be disheartened, they probably receive a lot of applications and may simply be too busy to respond. Just continue to follow up each month or so. Placements are so often about timing, don’t harass your potential employer, but appreciate that you may have just emailed at a bad time.

- The Fashion Calendar
Your potential employer might be in New York for fashion week or Paris for a trade show. Get to know the fashion calendar, including how the seasons work in terms of design and selling the collections. This will help you email at just the right time and also shows that you are paying attention.

Louisa Haywood assisting in the Lascivious studio

 - Keep It Short
Having a good looking (but not overly designed) and organised CV tells your potential employer what kind of worker you are. Showing your passion and tailoring your cover letter for each application is important. We don’t want to receive an email that has been obviously copied and pasted, or worse, contains another brands name because you haven’t adapted your email.

- Do Your Research
Internships are competitive, ensure that you make a good impression by knowing who the key people are, and a bit about the brands history. If you are really keen to show your creative and design focused side then create a short project for the brand you are applying to, let them know that you understand their aesthetic and what they do. 

Ellie Beaumont assisting at a Lascivious photo shoot