9 Free Fashion Internships for High School Students
Internships are a practical way for high school students to explore real-world work without committing to expensive pre-college programs. Through structured projects and mentorship, you gain hands-on skills, early industry exposure, and opportunities to build professional connections that are difficult to access in a classroom setting.
What do fashion internships usually involve at the high school level?
Many internships are offered or supported by well-known universities, fashion houses, museums, and nonprofit organizations, which makes them both credible and accessible. Fully funded options are especially valuable since they remove financial barriers while still offering meaningful learning and a resume-ready experience.
If you are interested in fashion, design, merchandising, sustainability, or fashion media, internships can help you test these fields before choosing a college major. To make this easier, we have narrowed our research to the top 9 free fashion internships for high school students.
P.S. If you want to explore more on the creative side, 14 Paid Art and Design Internships for High School Students covers design-focused programs that overlap heavily with fashion. And 15 Media Internships for High School Students in Los Angeles, CA is worth a look if you're drawn to the styling, editorial, or visual communications side of the industry.
1. URBN High School Internship Program
Location: Philadelphia Navy Yard, with limited remote options
Cost/Stipend: Paid internship with a competitive hourly rate; exact amount not publicly listed
Acceptance Rate: Not publicly disclosed
Dates: June 1-August 7
Application Deadline: November 3
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors
The URBN high school internship is a structured summer program hosted by URBN, the parent company of Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and Free People. During the program, you support teams by analyzing consumer behavior, researching seasonal and market trends, and contributing to day-to-day creative or business-focused tasks. Most roles are based at URBN’s Philadelphia headquarters, where you gain exposure to how large fashion and retail brands operate at scale, though some teams may offer remote participation. You collaborate with professionals across design, merchandising, marketing, or retail operations, depending on your assigned track. The internship emphasizes practical workplace skills, including communication, problem-solving, and working within cross-functional teams. By the end of the program, you walk away with firsthand experience in a fast-paced fashion retail environment and a clearer understanding of how creative and commercial roles intersect within a major brand.
2. Ladder Internships
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies depending on program type
Acceptance Rate: Selective
Dates: Varies by cohort; multiple cohorts throughout the year
Application Deadline: Varies by program
Eligibility: Open to all high school students who can work for 10–20 hours per week, for 8–12 weeks. The internships are also open to undergraduates and gap-year students.
Ladder Internships, founded by Harvard alumni, offers high school students virtual internships with prestigious startups, development organizations, and non-profits, led by founders with experience at firms like Google, McKinsey, and Microsoft. You can choose internships in media, fashion journalism, AI/ML, and engineering, allowing you to contribute meaningfully in your chosen field. You get to work on real-world projects alongside startup founders and managers and Ladder coaches. The program also facilitates one-on-one sessions with the host company, helping you refine your project and strengthen practical skills that prepare you for future academic and career opportunities.
3. This Way ONward (Old Navy)
Location: Remote or in person at participating local Old Navy stores
Cost: Free; participants are paid as employees
Acceptance Rate: Not publicly disclosed
Dates: Year-round program with 2-hour workshops held Monday through Thursday
Application Deadline: Rolling; open throughout the year
Eligibility: Students aged 16–24 years
You join an entry-level workforce development program that combines paid retail experience with structured mentorship and career coaching. The program partners with local Old Navy stores and focuses on expanding access to early employment opportunities, particularly for students from historically underrepresented communities. You receive guidance on job-readiness skills, such as interviewing, workplace communication, and professional expectations, before and during the hiring process. Once placed, you learn directly on the job while working alongside store teams in a real retail environment. Each participant is paired with a mentor who provides individualized support and feedback based on lived workplace experience. Over time, you build practical retail skills, confidence, and leadership habits through consistent, hands-on work and coaching.
4. Abercrombie & Fitch Freshman Forum
Location: Virtual
Acceptance Rate: Not publicly disclosed
Cost: Not specified
Dates: One-week program held during the summer; exact dates released in the spring
Application Deadline: Announced during the spring semester
Eligibility: High school seniors entering their first year of college
You participate in a short-term, remote internship designed specifically for graduating seniors interested in corporate retail and fashion business roles. The program centers on a structured case study where you analyze customer data, identify consumer trends, and propose data-informed business recommendations. You gain exposure to how large retail brands approach customer insights, strategy, and decision-making at a corporate level. Throughout the week, you attend virtual sessions led by Abercrombie & Fitch executives who share perspectives on brand strategy, merchandising, and company culture. The experience blends guided instruction with applied problem-solving rather than traditional retail tasks. By the end of the program, you will develop a clearer understanding of corporate retail career paths and the analytical skills used behind the scenes of major fashion brands.
5. Design Hive at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Acceptance Rate: Not publicly disclosed
Location: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York
Cost/Stipend: $2,000 total stipend, paid in two $1,000 installments
Dates: Typically runs from November through May
Application Deadline: September
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors who live in New York City
In this free fashion internship for high school students, you take part in a long-term, project-based program centered on design research, creative collaboration, and hands-on making. The program is hosted by Cooper Hewitt, a Smithsonian museum dedicated exclusively to historical and contemporary design across fields such as fashion, textiles, and decorative arts. You work closely with peers and professional designers to examine how ideas move from concept to finished design through iterative processes. Much of the experience focuses on collaborative projects that emphasize critical thinking, prototyping, and visual communication. You also gain behind-the-scenes access to museum exhibitions, collections, and staff, using these resources to inform your work. Throughout the program, mentorship from practicing designers supports skill development and helps you understand pathways into design-related careers.
6. The Met Summer High School Internship
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Acceptance Rate: Competitive
Cost/Stipend: $1,100 stipend
Dates: July to August
Application Deadline: March 13
Eligibility: High school students in grades 10 and 11 who live in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut
You participate in a paid summer internship at The Met that introduces you to how a major museum operates across art, design, and cultural heritage. Students interested in fashion and costume-related fields can be placed in departments such as design, curation, merchandising, conservation, education, marketing, or editorial work. You work both independently and in small groups while learning directly from museum professionals. The program emphasizes practical skills, research, and project-based contributions rather than observation alone. Beyond daily work, you take part in structured career labs, skill-building bootcamps, and networking events. The experience concludes with a final presentation and celebration that highlights your work and connects you with peers and staff across the museum.
7. Broadway Sacramento Internship Program
Location: Sacramento, California
Cost/Stipend: $25 per day
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not available
Dates: Typically June to August
Application Deadline: March 13
Eligibility: Rising high school seniors; 18 years or older
In this program, you join a behind-the-scenes internship with Broadway Sacramento, a major producer of professional musical theater in Northern California. If you are interested in fashion within performance settings, you can apply to departments focused on costumes, wardrobe, or wigs, hair, and makeup. Depending on your placement, you support tasks such as garment construction and repair, costume fittings, wardrobe organization, quick changes, or wig and makeup preparation. The experience emphasizes hands-on technical skills used in live theater production rather than classroom instruction. You also gain exposure to professional rehearsal and performance environments while working closely with production staff. In addition to department work, the program includes access to shows, resume workshops, and weekly talks that introduce you to career paths across theater, film, and related creative industries.
8. Banson NYC Fashion Summer Camp
Location: Banson NYC with hotel residence in Midtown Manhattan, New York
Cost: Not specified
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: 20 students
Dates: July 26-31
Application Deadline: Rolling; applications reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis until the 20-student cap is reached
Eligibility: High school students entering grades 9 through 12
You participate in a short-term fashion immersion program based in New York City that focuses on industry exposure rather than traditional classroom instruction. The camp is designed by a working fashion professional and emphasizes practical understanding of how design studios, showrooms, and retail operations function. You spend time learning about merchandising, buying cycles, and how products move from concept to market. The schedule includes guided visits to fashion studios, showrooms, and museum exhibitions related to fashion and design. Educational shopping trips and group dinners are built into the experience to encourage observation, discussion, and peer learning. The program prioritizes access, discussion, and direct exposure to the fashion industry environment.
9. MAD Teen Programs (Museum of Arts and Design)
Location: Museum of Arts and Design, New York City, New York
Cost/Stipend: Free; Artslife interns earn $16.50 per hour
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Artslife admits approximately 10 interns; cohort sizes for other programs are not publicly listed
Dates: Artslife runs July through August; RECESS I takes place February 18 to 21; RECESS II runs April 15 to 18
Application Deadline: Applications generally open in the spring and close in May
Eligibility: Rising sophomores and juniors enrolled in NYC public or charter schools
You take part in paid, skill-focused programs that introduce you to museum work and creative careers through hands-on projects. In the Artslife summer internship, you rotate through areas such as curation, education, and communications while developing original, creative, and public-facing work. The program includes activities like producing digital content, creating art, and leading gallery tours for museum visitors. Shorter RECESS programs run during school breaks and center on peer-led engagement and exhibition interpretation. Throughout the experience, you receive mentorship and job-readiness training from museum professionals. Additional Artslab workshops extend the learning through free, artist-led sessions designed in collaboration with teen interns.
Image source - URBN logo