How To Start Working in Fashion With No Experience

I wanted to work in fashion so badly that I used to tell anyone who would listen to me—and I mean anyone. I got my first fashion internship through my friend’s dad’s student’s mom who was a showroom manager in NYC and who knew one of her fashion designers needed an intern. If you’ve ever wondered “how to start working in fashion with no experience?” you’re in the right spot.

I’ve previously worked as an editor at both Nylon and Interview and I have been a fashion blogger for over eight years but I started out with no connections in the fashion industry.

I wanted to share a list of several things you can do to position yourself to be in the best possible position to get a job in fashion ranging from easy things you can do to determine if fashion is the right industry for you to things that require a larger commitment to learning about the fashion industry. Breaking into the fashion industry isn’t easy but with hard work and lots of networking it can happen.

How To Start Working in Fashion With No Experience

What kind of fashion job do you want?

First start out by thinking about what kind of fashion job you might be most interested in. You can be a designer and make clothing, a stylist, a buyer, an editor, a photographer, or a social media manager. The list of fashion jobs really goes on and on! Do some research to learn what these jobs are like day to day and note what you like and dislike.

I thought I wanted to be a designer for a long time. After interning with a designer, I realized I was more interested in styling and editorial. I ended up doing an internship in a fashion closet at a magazine. I learned a lot carrying bolts of fabric through the garment district and sitting in on fittings. But I realized that rather than making the clothes, I wanted to talk about them and explore their context.

Choose a college major that relates to fashion

Contrary to popular belief you don’t necessarily have to major in fashion to get a job in fashion. Many of my colleagues at fashion magazines didn’t go to fashion school. It helps, though, if your major relates in some way to fashion. I majored in art history and loved how it taught me to write about art with a critical eye.

That skill proved really helpful when I wrote fashion articles for Nylon. Consider majoring in graphic design, English, media, communications, or something related to your dream fashion job. Even if you don’t want a degree in fashion design, your major can still help.

Ask your network for help

As you saw I pretty much got my first fashion internship through six degrees of separation simply by mentioning my interest to family and friends. To take your networking a step further, I’d recommend:

• Sending a cold email to someone in the industry you admire

• Following editors, brand managers, and stylists on Twitter

• Trying to make some connections with fashion assistants on LinkedIn

• Joining Facebook groups of other fashion lovers

Create your own opportunities

Start a blog

Fashion blogs used to be dismissed quickly by major players in the fashion industry but now having bloggers attend fashion week and work with top brands has become the norm. Consider starting a fashion blog and if you need tips for getting started, watch this YouTube video I created.

Use your Instagram account as a portfolio

If you want to work in fashion, I recommend having a public Instagram account showcasing your fashion content. You can post flat lay photos of accessories, text graphics about trends, or outfit photos you take yourself. Having a well-curated, thoughtful visual portfolio can really help you stand out when applying for jobs.

Get creative about industry events

In 2015, I saw Ed2020.com was holding a networking event for Cosmo.com editors in New York. I thought the event was mainly for freelance writers and younger editors, but I decided to go anyway. I wanted to see if I could learn more about how to intern there. At the event, I connected with an editor who introduced me to the fashion and beauty assistant. Soon after, I had a phone interview for an internship.

Volunteer at fashion week

There are many different ways you can volunteer at New York Fashion Week or any other fashion week that is closest to where you live when you’re learning how to start working in fashion. You may be able to work backstage at Spring Studios or even reach out to an influencer and help her cover shows and take outfit photos.

Both of those would be great learning experiences and opportunities to see what fashion week is like and get to see some shows IRL.

Work in retail

I have a whole blog post about what I learned about fashion from working in retail at Free People for 2.5 years but if you truly love fashion and can’t afford to do an unpaid internship or to volunteer, retail is a fantastic way to learn about customer service, trending items, visual merchandising and more.

You can even get a seasonal position in retail during a busy season (like the holidays) to test it out for a bit without feeling like you have to make a massive commitment. The turnover rate in retail is high so you’ll work with lots of different personality types and learn how a store operates.

Fashion internships

Ideally you’d hope to land an internship in fashion. Internships can either be paid or unpaid and it’s up to you to decide which type you’d like to focus on. I was able to do an unpaid internship because I was also working part-time in retail.

If you find an unpaid internship that you love you might also be able to apply for some kind of internship grant or stipend through your school. Check out sites like Ed2010 and Free Fashion Internships to look for opportunities to intern in fashion. Sometimes internships can lead to full-time jobs as well.

Take an online course

These days there are online courses for everything! My friend Audree has a course called Fashion Fundamentals that you should definitely check out. You may even see a familiar face in one of the bonus career chats you get with the course!

Freelance for online magazines

Freelancing is a great way to start making connections at magazines even if there are no full-time roles available for what you might want to do. You can be a freelance writer, graphic designer, photographer and more.

As long as you have a few relevant samples of your work to send to an editor you can start freelancing for fashion publications even while you’re still in school. I’m a huge fan of freelancing and did it even after I worked on staff at magazines. For more details on how to pitch a magazine and get published, check out this blog post.

Move to a fashion capital

If you really want to be in the heart of fashion, consider moving to New York, London, Milan, or Paris. You don’t have to relocate to succeed, especially now when much of the fashion industry is virtual or remote.

These cities, however, usually have the most fashion job opportunities. If you don’t want to fully move, try an internship or attend fashion week for a year. I moved to New York at 18 and never looked back. If you’re unsure about the city or can’t move full-time, try it out briefly to see if it works for you.

General tips that will help you get noticed in the fashion industry:

• Be enthusiastic

• Keep up with trends

• Read lots of books about fashion (like these and especially Making it in Manhattan by my friend Caroline!)

How to Start Working in Fashion With Confidence

If you’re serious about figuring out how to start working in fashion, know that everyone starts somewhere, even the people whose jobs feel totally out of reach right now. I didn’t have connections or a clear path when I began, but by saying yes to opportunities, asking for help, and staying curious, things slowly started to fall into place.

The fashion industry isn’t easy to break into, but if you’re willing to put in the work and keep showing up, it is possible.

yours,

Austen

Photographs by Karya Schanilec