If you’re a high school student interested in fashion, New York City is one of the most exciting places in the world to explore that passion. Fashion internships in NYC for high school students offer firsthand exposure to an industry that blends creativity, business, culture, and innovation, from luxury fashion houses and emerging designers to media companies, creative studios, and retail brands.

These experiences can give you a much deeper understanding of what the industry actually looks like behind the scenes. Imagine spending your summer assisting with styling sessions, helping prepare mood boards, observing fashion marketing campaigns, supporting design teams, or learning how collections move from concept to runway. They go far beyond following trends by introducing you to the fast-paced, collaborative nature of the fashion world.

Why is NYC a good place to pursue fashion internships as a high schooler? 

Of course, not all fashion internships provide the same level of mentorship or meaningful industry exposure. Some are largely observational, while others allow students to contribute to projects, interact with professionals, and build portfolio-ready work. Finding the right opportunity can make a major difference in both your experience and your understanding of the field.

Across New York City, fashion institutes, brands, magazines, nonprofits, and educational organizations offer exceptional opportunities designed specifically for high school students interested in fashion and design. Whether you’re hoping to become a designer, stylist, marketer, or creative entrepreneur, these programs can help you gain confidence and early professional experience in one of the world’s fashion capitals.

To help you explore the best options, we’ve compiled a list of 15 Fashion Internships in NYC for High School Students. They’ve been selected for their industry exposure, creative learning opportunities, and professional mentorship.

For adjacent opportunities, consider internships in NYC.

15 Fashion Internships in NYC for High School Students

1. CondéFuture – Condé Nast x Educational Alliance Edgies Teen Center

Location: Condé Nast, One World Trade Center, New York, NY
Stipend: Paid every 4 months
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 12 students
Dates: Two-year program (October-June)
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Rising public high school juniors from NYC

As one of the most media-focused fashion internships in NYC for high school students, CondéFuture gives you a long-term introduction to media, fashion, design, and creative production inside one of the world’s most influential publishing companies. Through the program, you learn how major brands develop visual stories, digital content, photography, video, social media campaigns, and fashion-related media work.

Workshops and mentorship sessions connect you with professionals across Condé Nast’s network, helping you understand how editorial, branding, design, and production teams operate. You also build professional and presentation skills while developing work that can contribute to a digital media portfolio. 

Why this stands out: You learn directly from Condé Nast professionals across brands such as Vogue, Glamour, GQ, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker, with fashion, design, video, photography, and social media built into the experience.

2. Immerse Education’s New York Fashion & Deisgn Summer School

Location: Barnard College, Columbia University, New York
Stipend/Cost: Varies; summer school scholarship available through our bursary programme
Application Deadline: Multiple summer cohorts with rolling admissions
Program Dates: 2 weeks during the summer
Eligibility: High school students worldwide aged 15-18

As one of the more career-focused fashion internships in NYC for high school students, the Career Insights Programme lets you explore careers in major global industry hubs through a fashion-focused track. It is designed to give you direct exposure to real-world fashion workflows and professional environments. You will engage in project-based learning with established companies, attend interactive workshops, and visit offices, factories, and headquarters.

The program also includes weekly 1:1 career coaching sessions and personalized feedback on your resume and overall profile. You’ll present your findings to industry experts at the end of the program. You can find more details about the application here.

Why it stands out: You’ll gain direct industry exposure, build a professional network, and receive a certificate you can include in your college applications and work profile.

3. Ann Lowe Summer Intensive Fellowship – Fashion For All Foundation

Location: Fashion For All Foundation, New York City, NY
Cost/Stipend: Not specified
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive
Dates: 8-week summer intensive
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Students and fashion enthusiasts from around the world aged 14-30

The Ann Lowe Summer Intensive Fellowship is designed for students and emerging creatives who want serious exposure to fashion careers, mentorship, and industry access. The program combines personal development, career preparation, and fashion education, helping you understand both the creative and professional expectations of the field. You explore fashion history and industry contributions while also learning how networking, mentorship, and workplace readiness shape career growth.

A major strength of the fellowship is its connection to professionals and organizations that may lead to internship or job opportunities. Past speakers and mentors have come from major fashion houses, media brands, and industry associations, giving participants insight into different career paths within fashion. 

Why this stands out: The fellowship combines mentorship, career development, fashion history, and potential access to internship or job opportunities through Fashion For All Foundation’s industry network.

4. The Met Internship High School Internship Program – The Costume Institute

Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Stipend: $1,100
Acceptance rate/cohort size: ~7-8%; 70-80 spots
Dates: School-year internships: January – June | summer internships: June – August
Application Deadline: Summer Internship: March | school-year internships: typically, October
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors based in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut

The Met High School Internship Program can give you a valuable entry point into fashion history, museum work, and the study of costume as a cultural field. If placed in or connected to The Costume Institute, you may explore how garments, textiles, archives, and exhibitions are researched, interpreted, and presented to the public.

The broader internship also allows you to work with museum professionals across departments such as curatorial, education, design, imaging, and social media. Through mentorship, career labs, and hands-on assignments, you learn how a major cultural institution connects scholarship, public programming, and creative communication. You may also develop skills in research, public speaking, collaboration, and audience engagement.

Why this stands out: It connects fashion history, costume research, museum practice, and professional mentorship within one of the world’s leading cultural institutions.

5. Cooper Hewitt – Design Hive

Location: Cooper Hewitt, New York, NY
Stipend: $2,000
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive; typically 12-15 students
Dates: Varies by program cycle, December 2nd – May 19th
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors based in New York City

Design Hive places you in a collaborative design environment where you study how ideas become finished creative products. The program focuses on design thinking, object analysis, and hands-on experimentation, helping you understand the process behind functional and visual design. You work with peers, educators, designers, and museum professionals while developing projects that require research, prototyping, and group problem-solving.

Sessions often draw on Cooper Hewitt’s collections, so you learn to examine design objects closely and think about why they were made, how they work, and what choices shaped them. The internship is especially relevant if you are interested in fashion-adjacent areas such as product design, textile thinking, visual culture, or creative direction. The work is youth-led and collaborative, meaning you also strengthen communication, critique, and project-development skills.

Why it stands out: You work on paid, youth-led design projects while learning from designers, educators, and museum professionals at the Smithsonian’s design museum in New York.

6. Parsons Scholars Program

Location: Parsons School of Design, Greenwich Village, NYC
Cost/Stipend: None
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective; 25-30 students per year
Dates: 2.5-year commitment starting in the spring of 10th grade and continuing through graduation
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Current 10th graders interested in art and design who fall within the NY State Opportunity Program financial guidelines

The Parsons Scholars Program gives NYC students a sustained pathway into art and design, with fashion included among the creative fields you can explore. Across the program, you take studio-based courses, attend intensive summer classes, receive portfolio support, and build technical skills across areas such as fashion design, photography, digital imaging, illustration, and fabrication.

The curriculum connects design practice with social justice, identity, and community, encouraging you to think critically about what creative work can do beyond aesthetics. You learn from Parsons faculty and mentors while gaining access to college preparation, field trips, guest speakers, and admissions guidance. 

Why this stands out: This fully supported, multi-year pathway gives NYC public school students access to Parsons coursework, portfolio development, college prep, mentorship, and fashion-related studio learning.

7. Ladders for Leaders

Location: New York City
Stipend: At least $16.50/hour
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive
Dates: 6 weeks in the summer
Application Deadline: January 16th
Eligibility: Rising high school senior or college student between the ages of 16 and 24, legally able to work in the U.S. and has prior paid or volunteer work experience

Ladders for Leaders is a practical route for students seeking paid professional experience in New York City, including possible placements connected to fashion, retail, marketing, or creative business. Before entering an internship, you complete structured workplace training that helps you prepare for interviews, office expectations, communication, and professional conduct.

Placement depends on employer availability and student fit, so the fashion connection may vary, but the program has supported internships in creative industries and fashion-related business roles. You may work on projects involving communications, merchandising, operations, events, marketing, or administrative support. This makes the program especially useful if you are interested in the business side of fashion rather than only design. 

Why it stands out: It is one of NYC’s stronger paid internship pipelines for high school students and may connect you to fashion, retail, marketing, operations, or creative business placements.

8. FIT’s Summer High School 10-Day Workshops

Location: Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY
Cost: $550
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: July 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 20th, and 21st (start dates)
Application Deadline: June 10th
Eligibility: Students entering grades 9-12 in the fall; U.S. citizens or permanent residents only

FIT’s 10-day workshops give you a short, focused way to explore fashion and design at one of New York City’s most recognized fashion institutions. The program lets you choose classes aligned with your interests, including areas such as sewing, draping, fashion design, anatomy for artists, and other creative or industry-focused topics.

Each class is built around hands-on learning, so you spend time developing actual industry skills. You also get a feel for FIT’s campus, its academic style, and its location in the Fashion District. The workshops can help you create portfolio pieces, test potential majors, and understand which parts of fashion feel most engaging to you. 

Why this stands out: You can explore fashion-focused coursework at FIT while creating portfolio pieces and testing specific interests such as sewing, draping, design, or visual presentation.

9. NYU’s High School Summer Art Intensive: Curating Fashion

Location: New York University, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York City, NY
Cost: $2,600
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 18 students
Dates: July 5-25
Application Deadline: April 15th
Eligibility: High school students around the world aged 15-18 entering grades 10-12

NYU’s Curating Fashion track approaches fashion as a subject of research, interpretation, and exhibition rather than only design. You study garments, textiles, and fashion objects through historical, social, ethical, and cultural lenses, learning how curators build meaning around what audiences see. The program guides you through the process of developing a fashion exhibition, including research, narrative planning, spatial thinking, and collaborative decision-making.

Faculty from NYU’s Costume Studies program lead the academic work, while guest speakers and museum visits connect your learning to professional curatorial practice. You also examine how fashion can communicate identity, power, history, and social change. The final exhibition gives you a concrete outcome and helps you understand how fashion scholarship can translate into public-facing work.

Why this stands out: It frames fashion as an academic and curatorial discipline, making it especially relevant if you are considering museum studies, fashion history, costume studies, or cultural research.

10. Vogue Summer School

Location: Conde Nast College of Fashion & Design, New York City, NY
Cost: Residential: $7,695 | Day: $6,195
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: Varies by course; Multiple sessions available in June – July
Application Deadline: April 10th (Round 2)
Eligibility: Local high school students aged 15-18 entering grades 10-12 or recently graduated

Vogue Summer School places fashion within the larger world of media, branding, styling, and strategic communication. As a participant, you don’t just focus on design – the program helps you understand how fashion stories are shaped through editorial decisions, business strategy, visual presentation, and brand identity. You learn from Vogue, Condé Nast, and industry professionals, which gives the experience a strong connection to current media and fashion practices.

Site visits and city-based learning help you see how studios, offices, flagship stores, and fashion spaces contribute to the industry’s daily operations. Depending on your course, you may explore topics such as fashion business, styling, media, or lifestyle branding. 

Why this stands out: It connects fashion to media, publishing, styling, and brand storytelling through instruction from Vogue, Condé Nast, and other industry professionals.

11. LIM College – Summer Fashion Academy

Location: LIM College, New York City, NY, or virtual
Cost: Varies by course
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: July 13-16
Application Deadline: June 22nd
Eligibility: High school students from all nationalities entering grades 9-12; students must be 14-18 years old by the program start

LIM College’s Summer Fashion Academy is built around the business, retail, and branding sides of the fashion industry. You can explore topics such as merchandising, styling, digital design, fashion media, entrepreneurship, and brand development through short, focused courses. The program emphasizes practical projects, helping you understand how fashion ideas are marketed, sold, presented, and managed in real industry contexts. Instruction from faculty and industry professionals gives you exposure to both academic concepts and current business practices.

LIM is closely tied to fashion business education, making the experience especially useful if you are considering majors related to merchandising, marketing, management, or fashion media. You leave with a clearer understanding of how creative decisions connect to consumer behavior, retail strategy, and brand positioning.

Why this stands out: It emphasizes the business, retail, merchandising, and branding sides of fashion, which can be useful if you are considering fashion marketing, management, or entrepreneurship.

12. Pratt’s Summer Scholars

Location: Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
Cost: $395 per course
Acceptance rate/cohort size: First-come, first-served enrollment
Dates: July 7-18
Application Deadline: Opens April 22nd; First-come, first-served
Eligibility: High school students worldwide

Pratt’s Summer Scholars program introduces you to fashion through sustainability, textile awareness, and material-focused design. The course encourages you to think critically about how clothing is produced, used, reused, and discarded. Through hands-on lessons, you explore concepts such as circular design, upcycling, recycling, zero-waste thinking, and responsible material choices.

Faculty guide you through creative exercises that connect environmental concerns to actual fashion and textile practices. Rather than treating fashion as only a visual field, the course pushes you to consider how design choices affect larger ecological and social systems.

Why this stands out: The program focuses specifically on sustainable fashion and textile exploration, making it relevant if you are interested in circular design, upcycling, and environmental approaches to fashion.

13. FIT’s Summer High School 4-Day Workshops

Location: Fashion Institute of Technology, New York City, NY
Cost: $440 per 4-day workshop
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: Multiple week-long sessions in June and July
Application Deadline: June 10th
Eligibility: Students around the world entering grades 9-12 as of fall 

FIT’s 4-day workshops are short, intensive introductions to fashion, design, business, and related creative fields. Each workshop focuses on a specific topic, allowing you to sample an area such as styling, fashion journalism, trend forecasting, design, or fashion business without a long-term commitment.

The format is helpful if you are still figuring out which part of the fashion industry interests you most. Classes combine guided instruction with hands-on activities, giving you a quick but practical look at college-style learning. You also gain exposure to FIT’s campus and its location in the center of New York’s Fashion District. 

Why this stands out: The short format allows you to sample specific fashion-related fields quickly, which can help you narrow your interests before committing to a longer program.

14. NSLC Fashion Management & Design

Location: Columbia University, New York, NY
Cost: $4,595
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not selective
Dates: July 8-16 | July 20-28
Application Deadline: Seasonal deadlines; NSLC accepts applications until space is available in a program or on a program’s waitlist
Eligibility: Applicants must be between the ages of 14 and 18 and have completed at least one year of high school; international students are welcome to apply

NSLC’s Fashion Management & Design program focuses on how creative ideas become fashion brands. You work through the process of developing a concept, building a visual identity, and thinking about how a brand positions itself in the market. Workshops connect design decisions with storytelling, marketing, consumer awareness, and business strategy.

Guest speakers and field trips add industry context, helping you see how fashion operates beyond the design studio. The program also includes leadership training, so you practice communication, collaboration, resilience, and presentation skills alongside your fashion-focused work.

Why this stands out: It connects creative development with brand strategy, leadership training, and industry exposure, making it useful if you are interested in how fashion brands are built and positioned.

15. Banson NYC Fashion Summer Camp

Location: Banson NYC, NY
Cost: Not specified 
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 20 students
Dates: July 26-31
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: High school students around the world entering grades 9-12

Banson NYC Fashion Summer Camp gives you a behind-the-scenes look at New York’s fashion industry through visits, seminars, and practical career exploration. The program focuses strongly on buying, merchandising, showroom operations, retail spaces, and industry exposure, making it useful if you want to understand how fashion products move from concept to consumer.

You visit design studios, showrooms, museums, and stores while learning how professionals make decisions about assortments, presentation, and market trends. Activities such as educational shopping trips, an assortment planning seminar, and a professional photoshoot help connect classroom ideas to real fashion environments. The residential format also gives you a fun way to experience New York City as a fashion hub. 

Why this stands out: It gives you direct exposure to NYC fashion through showroom visits, retail exploration, merchandising lessons, industry site visits, and a structured residential experience.

Find Your Place in the Fashion World

Finding your place in fashion starts with seeing how design, styling, media, retail, and branding work beyond inspiration boards and trends.

The 15 fashion internships in NYC for high school students above span magazines, museums, design schools, fashion business, sustainability, styling, and merchandising.

Through workshops, mentorship, portfolio projects, and industry exposure, you can test interests and recognise which fashion roles fit your strengths.

Ready to turn early fashion experience into clearer career direction? Visit our Career Exploration blogs for guidance on pathways, roles, portfolios, and next steps.