The $55,000 Fashion Dream That Costs Too Much
When I first stepped into the fashion industry, my dream job wasn’t glamorous at all. It was an unpaid internship with a celebrity stylist. From sunup to sundown, I steamed racks, carried garment bags, and ran across Atlanta. Some days she bought lunch, most days she didn’t. At nineteen, I thought this was just “the game.” My cousin, already in New York fashion, told me this was how you paid your dues until you made it.
At first, it was thrilling. Another intern and I got behind-the-scenes access most people only dream about. But the magic quickly wore off. When people started asking me to style them, my boss grew resentful. Instead of seeing it as growth, she saw it as betrayal. By the end of that summer, she promised a stipend, but instead, I got a text while home in Cleveland: “Please disengage.” I was fired by text message.
I cried. My mom picked up the phone when my boss called to fire me cause the text was so passive. She calmly said, “She really enjoyed working for you. I’m sorry it didn’t work out, but you can stop calling now.” That moment taught me something fashion rarely does: I deserved dignity.
The Problem With the $55,000 Fashion Salary
Fast forward. Today, fashion headlines still celebrate jobs paying $55,000 in New York. On paper, it sounds solid. But after taxes? That’s about $33,000. In one of the most expensive cities in the world, that’s simply not a livable wage.
For many young professionals especially those from Black and brown communities, or first-generation college graduates this isn’t just difficult, it is nearly impossible. Without family money or a financial cushion, that “dream job” often becomes the reason someone has to leave the industry. And the reality is, fashion loses talented voices because survival shouldn’t be the price of admission.
I was fortunate. My mom made sure I ate during that unpaid internship. But that isn’t everybody’s story. No one should have to choose between survival and opportunity. And even though more internships are “paid” now, the question remains: paid what? A stipend that barely covers groceries? A wage that sounds good on paper but leaves you scraping by? That isn’t equity.
Why Fashion Has to Do Better
The industry loves to talk about creativity, innovation, and even sustainability. But none of that means much if the people doing the work can’t afford to live. Fair wages aren’t just a financial issue they are a sustainability issue. When whole groups of people are excluded because the pay is too low to survive, that’s not innovation, that’s gatekeeping.
I’ve built a career since that first internship, but the memory still lingers. It taught me that exploitation isn’t a rite of passage; it’s a deliberate choice the industry keeps making.
A $55,000 job isn’t a dream if it costs your well-being. Fashion has to do better for the sake of the people who love it and for the future of the industry itself.