Former Alexander McQueen Intern Sues British Fashion House for Minimum Wage. Is The Culture of The Fashion Internship Changing?

Against the back drop of the glitz and glamour of London Fashion Week that kicked off last Friday. Former intern, Rachel Watson, filed a complaint against the British fashion house founded by the late designer Alexander McQueen, claiming that she worked unpaid for four months without being remunerated.

Rachel Watson, the name given to her by lawyers, is claiming up to £6,415 in "lost wages" as she states the company broke the law by not paying her the minimum wage.

Watson interned at the company in 2009 and 2010 which included drawing embroidery artwork, repairing embellishment pieces and dying large quantities of fabric. According to Watson's lawyer, Wessen Jazrawi, from Hausfeld & Co LLP, said interns are entitled to minimum wage while doing "real work under a contract". Watson, who said she accepted the internship because she saw "no other way into the fashion industry" realised she was being exploited early on. She added: "How could I confront my employer at a time when they held all the cards to my future in the industry?"

Mishcon de Reya has been drafted in by fashion house Alexander McQueen to defend the lost earnings claim. And a spokesperson at Alexander McQueen has commented on the pending proceedings, saying: “We understand this relates to an intern who was with us four years ago. We had no idea until now that she had any concern about the time she spent at Alexander McQueen. We’ve paid close attention to the debate in this area and we now pay all our interns.”

The legal complaint follows controversy that flared up last year, over the fashion houses internship policy, where the fashion house was forced publicly to apologise about an unpaid internship job listing, after University of the Arts London student union president Shelly Asquith brought attention to its advert for a “talented knitwear student” to work five days a week for up to 11 months, without a wage. McQueen said the advert was “issued in error and was not in accordance with [their] HR policy”. This prompted Shelly Asquith, to write a strongly-worded letter to the late designer’s head office accusing the label of “using and abusing” fashion students.

Alexander McQueen is not alone in the fashion world in attracting criticism. The Goss-IPgirl is aware that unpaid internships are touted as being endemic within the fashion industry. It seems that there is a culture of of taking on young unpaid interns and fashion and journalism are renowned for being the worst industries.

Associated with spoiled young women and critiqued for favouring the financially elite, internships have become comme il faut, the de rigueur for students wanting to break into the world of fashion. While the recent Alexander McQueen case shows the campaign against unpaid work is gaining ground, the Goss-IPgirl wonders what this case says for the future culture of the customary unpaid internship in fashion? 

Not only does the unpaid internship raise issues of 'exploitation.' It has also been argued that "failing to pay interns means that those from less affluent families cannot afford to enter the fashion industry, making the sector poorer and less diverse.” 

Various cases over unpaid internships have brought the issue to light over the last few years, including the announcement in October 2013 by Conde Nast – whose titles include Vogue and GQ – that the company would stop taking on interns, after two former interns sued the company claiming that they were paid below minimum wage. This has stirred mixed feelings about the unpaid internship, for some it has been hugely beneficial, for others it has brought with it feelings of exploitation. Whatever the case, the culture of the fashion internship seems to be changing, whether it be through interns taking a stand, or fashion houses refusing to take on interns, and the Goss-IPgirl is interested to see what kind of precedent this case sets for fashion houses and interns in the future.