Site We Love: InternChic.com, A Fashion Intern Survival Guide

Last week, I was so excited to open my email when I saw an invite to preview the hot new website “Intern Chic” created by my fabulous friend Ashli.  (But you may know her as @FashionablyL8.)

Nicknamed the “professional intern”, Ashli has interned since the age of 16, much to the initial confusion of family & friends. She has interned everywhere from Mattel’s Barbie Design Department (Yes, I’ve already told her how jealous I am!), the Design Department at Baby Phat, as well as at a host of notable fashion PR firms.

As her internship experience increased, she found herself giving advice to fellow interns she met along the way. She ultimately decided to share the knowledge she gained while interning with the masses via Intern Chic.

In the midst of her busy schedule working at a PR firm and serving as CEO of Intern Chic, Ashli made time for a quick interview for The Glamazons Blog! Read on.

Glamazon Christina: How did you come up with the idea for Intern Chic?

Ashli: I’ve been interning since I was sixteen in the fashion industry and I realized that there really wasn’t a website that focused just on fashion internships and there wasn’t a site that had crucial information that I could turn to.  I remember my boss once asked me “What are the current trends for the season?” I was trying to Google on the spot and a site for interns would have been great to have a go-to site for that.

I thought I can’t be the only person who is looking for this kind of information.  Also as I started getting a lot of internship experiences, new interns would ask me for advice so I thought the site would be a great place to offer advice as well.

Per the site:

“ Intern Chic was created in 2011 as a survival guide for fashion interns everywhere. Intern Chic uniquely focuses on what to do once you’ve landed your dream internship. It was designed as a go-to resource for those working within different fields in the fashion industry. Daily internship advice in addition to the various segments including the latest fashion news makes Intern Chic a helpful resource for internistas and fashionistas alike.”

Glamazon Christina: What different areas of fashion have you interned in? Do you have a favorite?

Ashli: I started off in fashion design at Mattel with Barbie! That was my very first internship.  Then I went to Baby Phat in fashion design as well.  After interning in that area, I realized design really wasn’t for me.  I missed writing! Long story short, after speaking with a school counselor, Public Relations was suggested.

At the Public Relations firm where I interned, they saw my strong interest in fashion and let me create a fashion blog for their website with the hopes of attracting potential fashion clients.  After doing that internship, my favorite area is now Fashion Public Relations.

Glamazon Christina: What can current and aspiring fashion interns expect to gain from the site?

Ashli: In addition to the weekly advice I give under the “Tip DuJour” section, I also created a tab called “The List.”  I have a picture of all of the major designers and a quick tip sheet that includes how to phonetically spell their names.  I also plan to have more categories like ‘Design Houses’, ‘Editors’ and ‘Models’ so that you have the basic fashion 101.  Chic Speak is also a comprehensive list of fashion terms that interns should know before their first official day on the job.

Glamazon Christina: How have you been promoting the site?

Ashli: I’ve been reaching out to friends I’ve made along my internship journey, mentors, fellow interns, Twitter friends and through word-of-mouth.  I’m really excited because I took a chance in launching it just a week ago and so far the response has been overwhelmingly positive! I love just being able to share my experiences and I hope I can help others.

Glamazon Christina: So you designed the entire site yourself? I love it!

Ashli: Yes, I painstakingly spent three months designing every last detail of the site. I’ll even share an insider secret! I couldn’t decide what to have as the background of the site so I took a picture of one of my favorite skirts and zoomed in on the pattern and that is now the background! It was funny because I sent the site to my one of my mentors and she mentioned that it looked like an outfit I would wear and I said “Well, because it is!” So I’m excited that it is so original—the necklace in the corner is one of mine as well.

Glamazon Christina: What are some of the questions you have received?

Ashli: One girl who had applied to over a dozen internships was not hearing anything back so she wanted to learn how to stand out amongst other applicants.  Another woman who has a completely different career from fashion wanted to learn how to transition into the fashion industry so that was exciting! You can learn more about these and others in a soon-to-launch segment called “Q&A”.

Glamazon Christina: What do you hope visitors take from your site?

Ashli: I remember when I was going into new internships and it would have been nice to know what I was getting into.  It would have been cool to know “Oh hey, at ______ firm, you won’t be able to learn anything and it’s strictly coffee runs and errands without a chance of being hired at the end.” I think fashion interns can use the ‘Intern Chat’ section of the site and come together to help each other and share tips and experiences! I just want them to know that each section is based on my own experiences so I know that there are probably others who can relate.

Supercool, right? Check out Intern Chic for yourselves and tell us what you think!

My favorite part of the site is the “Chic Speak” column. Nothing flatlines me hurts my soul like a mispronunciation of Lanvin or Givenchy! And I’m sure many editors feel the same.

Visit the site www.InternChic.com, follow updates on Twitter (@InternChic) and recommend it to a friend.

Good luck with your internships!

Xo,

Glamazon Christina