Fashion internships are getting harder to find, even as employers continue to expect early-career candidates to arrive with relevant work experience.
That gap helped inspire the FSF Fellows Program, a new pilot launched by the Fashion Scholarship Fund in July 2026. The paid, four-week program brought five Class of 2026 FSF Scholars to New York City for rotational experiences at Kohl’s, Equinox, and Ralph Lauren, followed by individualized job shadows and career workshops.
The inaugural cohort included:
Andrew Grayson, a rising senior at FIT studying accessories design
Claire Galli, a Marist University graduate in design
Gabriella Gaston Guilabert, a SCAD graduate in marketing
Kendra Hill, a Hampton University graduate in Business / incoming marketing graduate student at NYU
Sophia Rand, an NYU graduate in business strategy
Each company rotation gave the Fellows access to different teams, business functions, and career paths. They shadowed employees, sat in on meetings, toured stores and archives, and worked together on a business challenge for each host company. By the end of each week, they were pitching their recommendations back to company leaders.
WEEK ONE: FINDING WHITE SPACE AT KOHL’S
The Fellows began on July 6 at the Kohl’s New York Design Office in Midtown Manhattan.
They shadowed marketing and merchandising teams, previewed Fall and Spring 2027 collections across accessories, childrenswear, and womenswear, and sat in on a “Kohl-aboration” meeting with buyers and designers.
Their first group project focused on Kohl’s private-label business. The Fellows were asked to identify Spring/Summer 2027 white-space opportunities for Nine West, LC Lauren Conrad, and Simply Vera, considering each brand’s customer, current assortment, shopping trends, and opportunities for new products or refreshed programs.
Their final recommendation centered on a sustainable capsule collection for the millennial mom customer, which they presented to Kohl’s leadership at the end of the week.
With designers, marketers, and strategists around the same table, the project showed how quickly one product decision can become a conversation about customer, assortment, positioning, and growth.
From left, Scholars Kendra Hill, Gabriella Gaston Guilabert, Anna Wen, Sophia Rand, Claire Galli, and Andrew Grayson. Photo courtesy of FSF
The Kohl’s New York Design Office in Midtown Manhattan. Photo courtesy of FSF
WEEK TWO: RETHINKING MEMBERSHIP AT EQUINOX
Week two brought the Fellows to Equinox’s Hudson Yards headquarters, where the focus expanded beyond traditional fashion retail.
They met with senior leaders and professionals across retail, strategy, and business intelligence, visited Equinox clubs to see the member experience firsthand, and learned about merchandising, brand campaigns, strategic partnerships, and the company’s use of AI in its operations.
Equinox also gave each Fellow a two-week club membership, giving them a chance to experience the brand as customers during the rotation.
Their challenge was to develop a new membership concept. The group created Equinox One, a proposed membership tier paired with an exclusive gym bag and premium athletic wear.
Their pitch had to account for the membership experience, merchandising, and what an Equinox customer would expect from a higher-tier offering. They presented the concept to the Equinox executive team at the end of the week.
The Fellows also participated in resume-readiness workshops focused on upcoming internship and job searches.
Scholars inside the Equinox headquarters. Photo courtesy of FSF
FSF Fellows test out the Equinox reformer pilates studio. Photo courtesy of FSF
WEEK THREE: IMAGINING AI-POWERED LUXURY AT RALPH LAUREN
At Ralph Lauren, the Fellows spent the week moving between the company’s archives, stores, market appointments, and corporate teams.
Their business challenge focused on a question many fashion companies are still working through: How can Ralph Lauren use AI to create a more personalized luxury shopping experience before, during, and after purchase?
The Fellows toured Ralph Lauren’s men’s and women’s flagship stores and sat in on market week appointments across children’s, sportswear, and men’s and women’s apparel. The schedule gave them a closer look at how products move through merchandising and into the retail environment.
They also visited the Ralph Lauren Archive Library, where they explored vintage garments, archival pieces, and research materials connected to the company’s design history.
The week also included career conversations. The Fellows met members of Ralph Lauren’s current intern class, participated in one-on-one coffee chats and corporate roundtables, and attended a career panel with Patrice Louvet, President and CEO, and Roseann Lynch, Chief People Officer and President of the Ralph Lauren Foundation.
For their final project, the group developed an AI-powered gifting concept centered on major milestones including graduations, baby showers, and weddings. The idea used personalized versions of Ralph Lauren’s iconic Polo Bear to create gifts tied to individual customers and occasions.
Scholars inside Ralph Lauren. Photo courtesy of FSF
Ralph Lauren Men’s Flagship Store. Photo courtesy of FSF
WEEK FOUR: CAREER PREPARATION GETS PERSONAL
The final week shifted to individualized job shadows and career preparation.
Based on their interests, the Fellows spent time with teams at The Children’s Place, Kohl’s, Randa, and Tailored Brands, giving each participant a chance to dig deeper into a function or corner of the industry that aligned with their own goals.
They also took part in one-on-one career coaching, LinkedIn and resume workshops with a fashion industry recruiter and consultant, and mock interviews with recruiters from Burlington and Haddad.
"The most valuable thing was building real confidence in myself and my ideas. Having access to mentors and industry professionals made me feel much more prepared and excited to step into the fashion industry," said Sophia.
The timing of the pilot matters.
Fashion companies are operating with tighter resources, traditional internship programs have become more difficult to maintain, and students are entering a competitive job market where prior experience still carries weight.
The FSF Fellows Program tested one way to close that gap.
In one month, five Scholars worked across three very different companies, saw how a range of teams operate from the inside, tackled real business questions, and practiced presenting their thinking to industry professionals. They also ended the program with a much broader view of the roles available to them across fashion, retail, branding, strategy, and design, and some of them even came away with interviews for full-time opportunities.
"I would absolutely recommend the FSF Fellows Program to other Scholars. The program provides a unique, one-on-one experience that allows you to gain an in-depth understanding of the fashion industry as a whole while learning directly from professionals across different areas of the business. It offers valuable insight into how the industry operates, exposes you to a variety of career paths, and helps you identify where your own interests and strengths align. Beyond the professional knowledge, the relationships and connections you build throughout the program make it an incredibly rewarding experience,” said Kendra.
For FSF, the first cohort offered an early look at what a more flexible model of career exposure could look like as the path into the industry continues to change.
