12 Fashion Internships for High School Students

The fashion industry is one that’s evolving, with ever-changing trends, contexts, styles, materials and mediums. If you’re a high schooler interested in pursuing a career in fashion, or at least exploring the field before you decide, an internship could give you a glimpse into the nuances of the industry, while also help you figure out if its it the right fit for you. Additionally, an internship experience can give your college applications and resume a significant boost.

Whatever your future career plan, it’s always a good idea to understand the options available to you. For instance, fashion is more than just designing clothes. If you think fashion design might not be for you, there areas such as fashion marketing, fashion technology, styling, fashion journalism, sustainable fashion, research, fashion merchandising, that you can explore.

To help you get started, we’ve curated a list of fashion internships for high school students. While some programs listed are not structured as traditional internships, they do offer valuable practical experience!

Fashion Internships for High School Students

1. URBN Internships

Location: Navy Yard, Philadelphia, PA
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors
Application Deadline: The applications for 2024 closed on November 3, 2023. You can expect the applications for 2025 to open later in the year, and close on a similar timeline.
Dates: June 3, 2024 - August 9, 2024 (10 weeks)
Stipend: Competitive hourly rate (exact amount not specified)

Parent company to brands such as Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, and Free People, URBN is a well-renowned company whose internships present high school students with the chance to get a glimpse of the inner workings of the fashion business. The internship program prepares students for the fast pace of retail and fashion and provides hands-on experience in areas like trend research, data collection and analysis, and teamwork.

Most URBN internships will be based at the company's headquarters in the historic Philadelphia Navy Yard, with a few potential remote opportunities. As an intern, you will gain practical experience in your field of interest in the world of fashion. During the program, URBN interns cultivate leadership skills essential to succeed in the dynamic retail setting. This selective internship program also organizes social events, off-site field trips, group leadership activities, and offers insight into the professional environment.

2. Gap Inc.’s This Way ONward

Location: Local Old Navy stores / Virtual
Eligibility: Individuals aged 16-24
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Dates: Year-round, with 2-hour workshops taking place every Monday-Thursday, followed by in-person placements at the store
Stipend: Paid (exact amount not specified)

This Way ONward aims to provide students with coaching, mentorship, and on-the-job skill-building to prepare them for a career in fashion retail. As an intern, you will learn from store managers, job coaches, and seasoned peers. You will also attend workshops to know more about your career options in the field, while simultaneously building a network of professionals.

This program highlights values like job preparedness, motivation, teamwork, communication, and leadership. The brightest trainees from this program also have the potential to get hired as entry-level brand associates for Old Navy.

3. Design Hive at Copper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Location: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York, NY
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors based in NYC
Application Deadline: Application dates for 2024-25 are yet to be announced.
Dates: The internship typically runs from November to May.
Stipend: $2,000 (paid in two $1,000 installations)

Cooper Hewitt is a renowned Smithsonian museum entirely dedicated to historic and contemporary design, with several collections focusing on costumes, clothing and textiles, and jewelry, among others. Design Hive is the museum’s initiative wherein selected interns learn about design objects and processes and work on collaborative projects. During the program, you will collaborate with each other and work with professional designers to learn how an initial idea becomes the final design and develop collaborative projects. The program includes access to the museum – which means you can engage with the exhibitions, objects, and people. This can prove to be a valuable resource in your journey. You will also receive mentorship from professional designers!

The program is scheduled with 2-hour sessions every Tuesday. Keep an eye on the official Design Hive page for application announcements!

4. Lands’ End Merchandising Internship

Location: Lands’ End campus, Dodgeville, WI
Eligibility: High school students (undergraduates and non-degree holders may also apply)
Application Deadline: Not specified
Dates: May 20, 2024 - August 9, 2024 (12 weeks)
Stipend: $20 per hour with relocation assistance and a 50% discount on Lands’ End merchandise

Lands’ End, known for its clothing, footwear, and accessories, is looking for merchandising interns who will learn about and contribute to the company’s merchandising strategies. As part of this role, you will analyze data, review reporting, provide factual information to the team, run reports, conduct competitive analysis, research trends, assist with presentations, and work with other teams on multiple projects. These skills can be very useful especially if you’re looking to pursue the business or marketing side of fashion. You will also receive one-on-one mentorship from experienced professionals.

5. North Carolina Theatre Conservatory Production Internships

Location: Raleigh, NC
Eligibility: Individuals aged 15+ who can commute to and from the conservatory
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Dates: Summer 2024 (dates and schedules are flexible). Opportunities are also available for fall and spring.
Stipend: Production internships are currently unpaid.

The North Carolina Theatre Conservatory produces and hosts various theatrical productions throughout the year. Students keen on exploring the fashion end of theatre can consider applying for one of its production internships in the costume, wardrobe, or makeup departments. Selected interns will provide assistance with costume selection, design and styling, character-focused wardrobe and accessories, and makeup while working with and learning from seasoned artists and designers. What you’ll learn during this internship can come in hand if you’re thinking about fashion in entertainment industry!

6. Broadway Sacramento Internship Program

Location: Sacramento, CA
Eligibility: Rising high school seniors
Application Deadline: March 31, 2024
Dates: May 20, 2024 - August 30, 2024 (Costume department) | May 28, 2024 - August 11, 2024 OR June 11, 2024 - September 1, 2024 (Wardrobe, Wigs, Hair, and Make-up departments)
Stipend: This is an unpaid internship.

Broadway Sacramento is North California’s leading producer of musical theater, with its internship providing students with relevant backstage production exposure. Students interested in fashion may apply to the following departmental internships:

  • Costume: Assist with costume coordination, costume crafts, fittings, garment constructions, and costume repair.

  • Wardrobe: Assist with care, storage, handling, and maintenance of costumes and support costume changes, scenic breakdowns, costume tracking, and dressing lists.

  • Wigs, Hair and Makeup: Assist with setting, fitting, and maintaining wigs and facial hair and learn how to do specialty makeup designs.

You will also receive access to productions, resume building workshops, and weekly talks and dinners. These internships can help you build a strong skill set to work in the fashion end of theatre, film and other media.

7. The Met Summer High School Internship

Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Eligibility: High school students in grades 10 and 11 in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut
Application Deadline: March 8, 2024
Dates: July 8, 2024 - August 9, 2024
Stipend: $1,100

The Met’s high school internships relate broadly to the fields of art and design, with several options available for students interested in fashion and costumes, including design, curation, merchandise, development, editorial, marketing, education, research, conservation, and more. You will be able to work individually and in cohorts with the museum’s professionals and, at the end of the program, you will have strong practical experience and skills, as well as a solid network of professionals and peers. Apart from the internship work, you will also receive access to a reception, bootcamp, career labs, social events, and a final event and celebration, offering an all-round development opportunity.

8. Ladder Internships

Location: Virtual
Eligibility: High school students available to work for 5-15 hours per week for 8-16 weeks
Application Deadline: Summer cohort (early admission): February 18, 2024 | Summer cohort (regular admission): April 14, 2024. Fall, winter and spring cohorts are also offered.
Dates: Multiple cohorts take place throughout the year. Summer cohorts run in June-August.
Cost: Starts at $1,990.
Financial Aid: Full and partial need-based financial aid is available.

Ladder Internships, founded by Harvard alumni, allows students to intern with startups and nonprofits in various industries, to work on real-world actionable projects. Ladder facilitates multiple sessions between the intern and the host company, as part of which students create and develop a project that they then present once the internship ends.

Students keen on fashion can apply to the media/journalism track to get experience in fashion journalism. The options are vast in fashion, making tracks like non-profits, consulting, and environmental science viable and relevant too. With the list of host companies constantly growing, selected students are bound to match with a notable company in a relevant industry.

9. Abercrombie and Fitch’s Freshman Forum

Location: Virtual
Eligibility: College freshmen expected to graduate in 2027
Application Deadline: To be announced in spring 2024
Dates: Week-long event, with exact dates to be announced in spring 2024
Stipend: This information is not available at the moment.

Accepting only college freshmen into its Freshman Forum, Abercrombie and Fitch is a vibrant place for graduating high school seniors to consider applying to once they start college. Selected students will learn about the brand’s customers and their psychology, following which they will team up and create a customer insights case study that provides genuine data, insights, and operative business solutions. You will get to network with peers as well as A&F professionals and gain access to future working and learning opportunities at the company.

10. Summer Intensive Studies at Parsons School of Design

Location: Parsons School of Design (Greenwich Village), New York City, NY
Eligibility: High schoolers aged 16-18 can apply.
Application Deadline: April 24, 2024 (April 1 for International students)
Dates: June 10, 2024 - June 28, 2024 (session 1) | July 8, 2024 - July 26, 2024 (session 2)
Cost: $5,145 tuition + $245 university fee + housing fees (if applicable) to be decided
Financial Aid: Limited tuition-only scholarships are available. The deadline to submit the scholarship form is February 11, 2024.

While not a traditional internship, this academically rigorous and stimulating 3-credit program provides immersive courses, skill building, project-based learning, guest speakers, field trips, extracurricular activities, and portfolio reviews, giving students a solid boost for their university applications and future careers. Small class sizes with technical and creative learning and working opportunities will give you the chance to build a network. Parsons School of Design/The New School, located in Manhattan, is one of the top design schools in the world. As a participant, you will learn from key guest speakers in the fashion industry. Fashion-focused offerings include Fashion Design: Sewing & Construction, Fashion Design: Visual Communication, and Fashion: Styling. Various materials, methods, technologies, visual media, and styling business concepts are highlighted in these.

11. Banson NYC Fashion Summer Camp

Location: Banson NYC + residence at a hotel in Midtown Manhattan, New York, NY 
Eligibility: High school students entering grades 9-12
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a first-come-first-served basis until the capacity of 20 students is reached.
Dates: June 23, 2024 - June 28, 2024 (session A) | July 14, 2024 - July 19, 2024 (session B)
Cost: Not specified.

Banson NYC has been around since 2008, providing students with valuable, credible exposure to the fashion industry in NYC. The program structure is specifically designed by a seasoned professional, Holland Grumieaux, who ensures sufficient practical experience and insight in addition to classroom learning. The Banson NYC Fashion Summer Camp takes students behind the scenes of design studios and showrooms and teaches them about merchandising and the buying process. The programming further includes educational shopping trips, fashion exhibits at famous museums, and group dinners. The camp accepts a maximum of 20 students.

12. Drexel University’s Fashion Design Reimagined Program

Location: Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA (residential)
Eligibility: High school students who have completed their sophomore year and are at least 16 years old
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until the maximum capacity of 18 students is reached.
Dates: July 14, 2024 - July 20, 2024
Cost: $2,250
Financial Aid: This information is not available.

The Fashion Design Reimagined Program by Drexel University is a competitive work-learn opportunity, accepting only 18 students annually. During the program, you work in the studio, where you will not only attend demonstrations but will also experiment with materials and concepts to work on apparel design projects. In addition, you will attend lectures from Drexel’s established faculty and industry professionals, as part of which you will learn Shima Seiki’s Apex computer knitwear design simulation and Clo-3D Fashion Design software. Field trips and discussions with professionals are also part of the program.

Looking for an immersive internship experience?
Check out Ladder Internships!

Ladder Internships is a selective, virtual internship program where students work with startups and nonprofits from around the world! The startups range across a variety of industries, with a large number of them in tech. As part of their internship, each student will work on a real-world project that is of genuine need to the startup they are working with, and present their work at the end of their internship. In addition to working closely with their manager from the startup, each intern will also work with a Ladder Coach throughout their internship. Apply now!

Stephen is one of the founders of Ladder Internships and a Harvard College graduate.

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