The fashion industry is a utopia, of silk and suede and,...

The fashion industry is a utopia, of silk and suede and, shoes and belts. It is a place where flowers smell of Chanel and Givenchy; and trees bear diamonds and rubies, where extravagant living is a reality; and thin women walk down the many streets with hot cups of espressos every fraction of a second. And this industry is not just the fourth largest in the world, but also the most loved! Millions have found livelihood here. Millions try everyday to find their place. And the options for them are many- designer, model, photographer, choreographer, stylist- the list is endless! But is it as simple as it looks? With the cut-throat competition in current times, its very difficult to carve out your own niche in this industry. To land up in a†¦show more content†¦Another former intern at Alexander McQueen sued the company recently for exploiting her and making her do art works for embroideries and dyeing fabrics for free. (The Guardian, February 17, 2014) In reality, the very concept of unpaid internship is faulty. To survive in expensive cities like New York or Los Angeles and pay out of your own pocket for food, accommodation and transportation while you work forty hours a week for free is both unrealistic and impractical, unless, of course if you have the financial backing. But that means that fashion internships are just for the rich as a middle-class household definitely doesnt have the budget for it. So does this imply that only if you have the money, you get a good internship? A survey by NACE which came in The Wall Street Journal says, 60% of 2012 graduates who worked a paid internship got at least one job offer, while just 37% of those in unpaid gigs got any offers. That’s slightly – only slightly – better than the offer rate for graduates who skipped internships entirely, at 36%. Without a job surety, interns are walking aimlessly knocking on every door to just get in. Interns are not even considered as employees although in most small scale companies they make up a major part of the working force. What is wrong in the system is that the ones who