A (probably not so) Hot Take on the Fashion Industry

As someone who has worked a 9-5, freelanced, and been overworked and underpaid.

It’s been almost four months since my last article. I spent the summer having an existential crisis regarding my choice of career, and in turn questioned if this newsletter was adding any value to the giant echo chamber of the internet. I’ve done a lot of reflecting. I took some time away from social media, didn’t check any of my shopping apps, and overall tried to actually live in the moment. And I realized it’s ok to love fashion even though, in the grand scheme of things, I am probably not saving any lives. I am however (hopefully) contributing, even if it is in the tiniest of ways, to the creation of art and a world where beauty is seen in the little things. Because yes, doctors and lawyers and mechanics are important, but what would a life be if we didn’t have the little moments of joy? And if that moment of joy just so happens to be putting on a really good outfit, you should be able to do that without being judged for being shallow or less intelligent or vapid. Our lives, like it or not, depend on how we look, so I, and anyone reading this (and anyone not reading this - really just anyone) should not feel less than for taking this concept of creating, consuming, and, dare I say, looking at our ourselves (a concept that have been sold to us our entire lives - always chase the next best thing, look better, spend more) and spinning it, twisting it, and milking it until it resembles something that we enjoy and love and nurture. Fashion is an art, and without art where would we be? Probably either insane or medicated. So whether you spend ten minutes getting dressed in the morning or clock in at 9 in yesterday’s sweatpants to fill out an endless number of tech packs (for those confused, it’s pretty much a spec/tech guide for constructing a garment), embrace whatever fashion means to you and embrace it without shame. The world is ending either way. I am trying to pivot my thinking and be grateful that I am able to be paid to return a little bit of art back into the world.

That said, I do have some qualms.

As dramatic as this may seem, this quite literally could be a photo of me from six months ago… although with more Ikea bags and less dog. Just so happens that those paper bags are really bad for carrying around 6+ designers’ garment bags.

Fashion has long gone unchecked as an industry. From large scale exploitation that runs rampant in factories worldwide to unpaid “internships” for a brief fashion week run, fashion runs on the labor of those with dreams. This is my singular viewpoint, but as someone who went to school for fashion design and has been in the industry since graduation I know I am not alone. The majority of my friends work in or around the industry in one capacity or another, and if I had a dollar for every horror story I heard, I’d have at least $50 (which is not a ton, but I don’t have a ton of friends).

I went into design school a bright eyed girl with dreams of becoming someone who could stand side by side with my idols. I set out to prove I had what it takes. All nighters were the norm - I don’t think I got more than 4 hours of sleep a night for my entire senior year. But it would all pay off in the end, right? I won an award at the senior fashion show. People wanted to buy the pieces I created off the runway. Things were looking promising! I was hired after graduation at the company where I did my internship. So it looked like the six months of unpaid labor was paying off. During my internship, I lost money working for the company. I commuted from my home in CT to midtown, paying for the monthly commuter ticket on Metro North. I had to pay for gas. I’m fortunate that I was able to live at home and not pay rent. My mom did her weekly grocery run, so I didn’t have to pay for groceries. But my $10 daily lunch stipend didn’t come close to covering the monthly fare. And this was the norm. All my friends also had unpaid internships. They were also lucky - their parents paid their rent. Imagine trying to work for free without this safety net. It’s why the fashion industry seems so discouraging for a lot of younger people. They just don’t have the resources.

But fashion is one of the only industries where this is the norm (please also see: photographers, HMUAs, graphic designers, I see you my fellow creatives). Everything is for school credit, or you’re no longer eligible. I had friends in engineering and medicine who were paid full-time salaries during their internships. They truly did not believe me when I would tell them none of us were getting paid. But we all said, “This is what it takes! You have to prove your dedication, your passion, your drive!” It’s all about putting in the hours. And as I’ve made my way into the industry in other capacities since then, not much has changed. Creatives simply get the short end of the stick.

I stayed at my first job for three years, and I was pretty damn good at it. Being that it was a small team, I did both design and product development. But it made me realize one thing: there is so much waste. We would develop hundreds of samples for each delivery, with maybe twenty of those going into production. When I first started out I was naive - the company had recently been acquired by a new owner, and the structure had completely changed since my intern days. They had the money to overdevelop. We would order hundreds of yards of fabric, and when styles were canceled it would sit in overseas factories. As a newly-professional 22 year old, I didn’t realize that this was how some companies were run. And as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become much, much more aware of how the fashion industry impacts the world. The United Nations named it the second most polluting of all industries. And so, with all of this in mind, I made the decision to leave my job and try a different avenue: the world of styling. And, at least in my own personal experience, it’s no different from the design world.

In fact, styling is way more exploitative. As a previous boss said, “There are a thousand other girls who would kill for this job.” This seems to justify the mistreatment. If you can’t hack it, someone else will. But to me, it’s less about hacking it and more about expecting common human decency and a sense of professionalism. At least when I was working full time I knew my working hours and got a regular paycheck. But in styling? There is no set rulebook. I did a brief stint (by brief I mean barely two months) assisting a stylist here in NYC. Finding paid, full time positions is like finding gold during the Gold Rush, so I did not do the due diligence I probably should have. I agreed to come on as her first assistant a do a trial week, fully unpaid. After this week, she kept me on. But after six weeks and still no check, I forced her to schedule a time to meet to discuss payment (she put nothing in writing - another red flag) I was then told, after six weeks of practically free labor, that I was not a good fit for the job and she would be forced to let me go if I could not complete the current project. I had successfully completed every other project, without complaint from either her or myself. I worked until 3 AM some days putting decks together. I would wake up at 4 AM to get to set on time. She would tell the intern that she could not be promoted because she did not have my experience or ability to pull off last minute looks, and a day later turn around and tell me that my job was on the line. I left after two months. And when I did finally get paid the balance of what I was owed? I was told that any days I worked from home were unpaid because she did not have the budget. I have no qualms with working long hours and doing less than glamorous work. I do however have a problem with being sold a lie.

I’ve met a lot of creatives on set. Hair and makeup artists, photographers, and models are taken advantage of and expected to just deal with it. And yes, there are exceptions to the rule and I’ve worked with some amazing people, but in the grand scheme of thing, people want your best work in exchange for the bare minimum. They haggle on rates and then reach out for additional add-ons. They claim they have no budget. And a favorite word of a lot of people? Collaboration. A fancy word for unpaid. This is one thing when you and your friends are putting together test shoots as a way to build your portfolio, but there is no way this should be standard. And exposure? Exposure doesn’t pay my rent. When’s the last time you asked your lawyer to collaborate? Or the last time you haggled with Prime Video? And no, I’m not saving lives, and no I did not go to law school, but I’ve put in blood, sweat, and tears (literally) and hours and hours into developing my craft. One might think I would be compensated appropriately.

Another issue? Styling is also incredibly wasteful. It feels like there is just no winning. The sheer number of packages shipped back and forth in a week is more than I order for myself in a year. And not to mention unethical. I try to avoid using Amazon unless absolutely necessary, but I found myself ordering hundreds of dollars worth of clothing because clients would give feedback days before the shoot and I would have no other overnight shipping options. And their return policy is the icing on the cake. If you’ve ever seen an ecomm shoot? Anything that isn’t specific to the brand? Probably bought and returned. I’ve begged sales associates to accept shoes when they have obviously been worn, claiming I have no idea how that could have happened because my boss cancelled her trip, chuckling with them as though we are suffering in the same boat and have some sort of bond over crazy bosses. I’ve started questioning the ethics of the industry as a whole, and am feeling jaded only a few years into what I was hoping would be my dream career.

In an ideal world, I’d style clients solely in vintage. But, sourcing vintage is, you guessed it, expensive, and you guessed it again, budgets are often low. The whole perk to styling is that often clients (this is referring to the work I have been doing, mainly for brands and celebrity work) don’t have to pay anything other than the stylist’s fees. So, while it might seem like common sense, a huge round of applause to Law Roach who made it clear that he and Zendaya actually purchase the vintage she wears.

If you’ve done any freelance work, you also understand the absolute nightmare of the net 30, net 60, or the dreaded net 90 payment schedule. People will simply ignore your invoices. And since a lot of the jobs don’t have any sort of contract, trying to get paid can be like pulling teeth.

I’ve had friends reach out for graphic design work. I learned Adobe suite first in high school, and have learned how to use it throughout my years in design school and within the creative industry. And yet somehow my quick turnaround equals a lower rate, when it is in fact a decade of honing these skills. It’s not for lack of development and thought, it’s instead a streamlined method of working. I love helping my friends. I love being creative and working on new projects. But I don’t love being taken advantage of.

I am lucky to have ended up at a design job with the nicest team I could have hoped for, and a pre-planned line so that everything sampled has been pre-approved. It’s not carbon neutral or deadstock fabric, but it’s a dramatic shift from my first design job.

Now you may think this has just been a really long way for me to complain about the industry. And I understand if you feel that way. You might even be thinking, “Why not just leave the industry?” But as I’ve grown my community on Substack, I’ve come across a lot of big voices in the fashion-sphere. I may not be able to change the world myself, but this seems like a good place to start a discussion within a more welcoming and ethical group of people as younger generations enter the industry with big dreams and empty pockets. At first I hesitated to post this, but I want anyone entering the industry to realize that this shouldn’t be normal and it’s ok to turn down a job. Full stop. No reasons needed. You don’t have to be too tired, too busy, too overwhelmed. Fashion should be fun, because at the end of the day, aren’t we all just playing dress up?