Fashion Week the good, the bad and the graft

Fashion Week ,one of the most glamorous fashion events of the season,has come to an end (until next season). But how glamorous are these events for those who are not just working at them but working at them for free ? If you are looking at getting your foot in the door of the fashion industry be prepared to break a nail or two. Studying fashion at university, I knew that the fashion industry was competitive and cliquey, but I went in with an open mind. My day started at 10am ,outside the venue about 10 girls stood head to toe in black staring down at their phones,my first thought was this is gonna be a long day if none of us are gonna talk to each other.We worked in nearly complete silence apart ,from small talk and asking each other if we need help ,for two hours. Our jobs included filling up the goodie bags (unfortunately interns don't get a goodie bag) and moving around benches setting up for the show. At 12 we got a coffee break ,not sure what or where to go, a bunch of us gathered into Starbucks.

The awkward chat continued, talking about what we were going to be doing for the rest of the day ,where we go to uni and what we study. After our short coffee break we were back to work, placing the goodie bags in the VIP section and arranging where the VIPs would sit. We also had to organise backstage, moving tables and chairs to create a place for hair and make-up to be done and setting up rails and hanging the clothes. I must say you have to be physically fit to do this job, I woke up the next day feeling like I had just done a full body workout. After the set had been arranged, back stage was ready for the models and the red carpet had been laid, we went back to Starbucks for lunch. This was a little less awkward than our first trip as us girls had bonded more , although the groups had divided into smaller more cliquelier groups. We took our second break at 3pm and then we got back to work.

When we went back to work it was time for the models, photographers and make-up artists to arrive. We had to register them all and tell them where they needed to be, the venue started to get busy and there was barely any room to move backstage. We were allowed to take photos of behind the scenes, it was pretty cool watching the models get their make-up done and then watching them do a practice run. Once the guests started to arrive we all got given diffrent tasks ,some of us were at the entrance greeting the guests, some were looking after VIPs showing them where to sit, some were backstage helping the models get dressed. I was quite lucky in the sense that I got the job of calling the models so they walked on time ,so I had a front row seat (well I was standing). I had a great view of the show and could sneak in a few canapés.I couldn't believe how fast the show was over, to think we had been working on this from 10am and within 30 mins the show was finished. Once the show had ended which was about 9pm we had to wait for the guests to clear out, a few had stayed behind to take selfies and network. I was drained, it wasn't till half 9 we got to start packing up and there were still a few people standing around chatting. I couldn't believe the mess of the place, spilt drinks and half eaten canapé scattered across the floor, it wasn't till half ten that I finished working. It was both an amazing experience and a draining 12 hours of unpaid work, proving that when your an intern the fashion industry really isn't all that glamourous and for anyone looking to work in fashion as an intern I can only recommend comfortable shoes and clothes and be prepared for some hard graft.