Former Alexander McQueen Intern Sues British Fashion House for Minimum

Wage.

Is The Culture of Working For Free 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 our 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 fashion and journalism are renowned

for being the worst industries.

While the recent Alexander McQueen case shows the campaign against unpaid

work is gaining ground, the Goss-IPgirl wonders what this case says for

future of the culture of the unpaid internship in fashion? Internships have

become comme il faut, the de rigueur for students wanting to break into the

industry associated with spoiled young women and critiqued for favouring

the financially elite. It has 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.”

Even though, 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. This has stirred mixed feelings about the

unpaid intership, for some it has been hugely beneficial opportunities, for

others a feeling of exploitation. The Goss-IPgirl is intrested to see what

kind of precedent this case sets for fashion houses and interns in the

future.