Free Fashion Internships

New rules will apply to free fashion internships, at last.  They will receive a salary and not just expenses, such as lunch and transport.  However, I have to ask.  Does the joy of working in the fashion industry justify working without a salary?

It beggars believe that such a practice goes on.  Surely with the costing of designer garments, fashion houses and designers would ensure that all those who helped with the work involved to create the fashion  designs was paid, at the very least, the minimum salary.  Thankfully the free fashion internships situation is now being addressed, as reported in the following report.

In a move welcomed by the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, HMRC says it has written to all 102 fashion houses involved with September’s London fashion week warning them about non-payment of the minimum wage of £6.08 an hour for those aged 21 and over.

Companies that have received letters include Mulberry, Paul Smith, Nicole Farhi and Burberry.

Clegg, said: “I strongly urge fashion houses and designer labels to make sure they are treating interns fairly. Where an individual is entitled to the minimum wage they should receive it.

“Internships provide valuable opportunities and should be available to everyone, not just those who can afford to work for nothing.”

Free Fashion Internships  report

Having experience of running a fashion business and designing garments in the high price bracket, I cannot see how fashion companies can find an arguement for not paying staff a sufficent salary.   Taking pride in creating designs which the public want to wear is one thing but without looking after your staff, at all levels, that is surely unacceptable.

Obviously with the current recession, costs have to be made in every aspect of running a business.  Possibly when a company is at the walls with business debt, then they may feel that they cannot afford to pay the staff, but this is a different senario altogether.

Interns are looking for experience and the fact that they have been allowed to be exploited for so long, is very surprising.

The fashion industry is unusual in that it has to combine the creativity of the fashion designs with the necessary day to day business practices.  This can be a challenge for new fashion companies but definitely not unsurmountable.  The fashion industry will always look to employ interns for their convenience and flexibility.  With the new outlines to be introduced with regard to payment of at least the minimum salary, free fashion internships will be a thing of the past in the fashion industry and righly so, a lot may say.

Fashion Trend - Shoe Fashion in Painted Shoes

Fashion trend or is it the fact that we are in the midst of a major recession that we want to blow caution to the wind and climb into the highest pair of heels that we can?  Ever thought of painted shoes?

I’ve just read an interesting article here on the subject of shoes.

This season is all about shoes: show-off shoes. Vast platforms, enormous wedges and scene-stealing stilettos are the common denominator uniting diverse trends from the 1970s to the 1940s.

Forget “it” bags. Don’t leave home without your “limo” heels; the sort that elevate you by 175mm and hint you have a limousine nearby and don’t have to wobble (forget walking), too far.

Far more than being mere “punctuation” to autumn/winter 2011/12 looks, a combination of the platform-wearing Lady Gaga and a global recession, which has limited our spending to punchy accessories, has made high heels the talking point of fashion.
For more on this article … click here

Looming at the fashion trend of shoes in a business view for yourself, you could check out how two people went on to make millions in the shoe design sector.

http://debts-challenge.com/tamara-mellon-and-jimmy-choo-two-successful-entreprenuers/

Yes, Tamara Mellon and Jimmy Choo, two very successful entreprenuers were in the fortunate position to have enough backing to take their business to the busy hights of the fashion industry within a few short years and you may not have that advantage.

But don’t let that hold you back.

As you may have read from my fashion membership site(one of the online fashion courses available) I started with hardly any money and certainly no backers but then went on to export world wide.  Why am I telling you this?  To show off   Of course not, but to let you know that no matter what, you can follow your dreams too.

Going back to the shoe fashion trend of this year, we just have to think back in time to the various trends, winklepickers, (heaven forbit they come back), granny lace up shoes, brogues etc. to realise that anything is possible.

Perhaps you already have high heel shoes in your wardrope and don’t want to spend out on another pair but you are bored with them!  Why not embelish them with unique accessories.  You could paint them.  (Now I do like that idea.) Can you imagine, you own painted shoes!   Who knows you could start a fashion trend in painted shoes yourself.

Leather Designs

Offering leather designs in your clothes business has many areas for potential and real success.  This may be leather designs in the form of leather handbags to leather coats or jackets.

The wonderful thing about designing in leather is that this medium never goes out of fashion.  It always looks smart and takes many wears or even many years before the garment looks worn.

Leather garments can be dressed up or dressed down, depending on your mood or the event.  Many people love wearing leather garments because of the feel of it and in the autumn or fall, love the comfort it gives on a cold evening.

Leather Designs

Recently in London, I noticed that Rick Owens, designer of high fashion leather garments, has opened a large two storey shop at 64 South Audley Street in London.  If you get the chance, please go along there to see the incredible work of this leather designer.

With your leather designs, amazing garments can be created … and with the potential of offering a service, to size!

Spend a few moments watching the video below.  It may inspire you to create your own leather designs.

Fashion Fix: Leather Pants

Now, they may not be for everyone but consider also mixing leather with other textiles!

Can you imagine what could be created?

Leather Designs Tools

The tools you would require to create your own leather designs would be easy to acquire.  They could be using a specific sewing maching to eventually moving onto a leather sewing machine.  In fact, if you already have a sewing machine than all you would need would be the Schmetz sewing machine needles.  These needles are specif for sewing leather and other heavy non woven materials and are compatible for most sewing machines.   Also, by starting off using these sewing needles, you would not be incurring much cost when starting your own clothes business

Another alternative is that you could also consider outsourcing the samples thus saving you the cost of purchasing machinery and the time involved in learning to operate them sucessfully.

Leather Designs In Your Clothes Business  -  Conclusion

Concentrating on leather designs either as a leather business totally or as a compliment to your cloths business must surely be worth considering. There are so many different areas you could specialise in or alternatively, as mentioned previously, you could incorporate the leather into your already unique designs, thus making them more desirable to some of your potential customers.

Consider also the leather accessories you could create if you did not want to actually create leather garments.  However, allow yourself to spend time contemplating all the leather designs you could create to add to your clothes business.