Fashion Author Slammed for Unpaid Internships

Plum Sykes , a British lifestyle blogger and former assistant to Anna Wintour, is facing criticism over her reported use of unpaid student interns to help run her Substack platform, which has more than 20,000 followers. The dispute has revived a wider argument inside creative industries about whether entry-level work is being fairly compensated. The criticism focuses on whether the work described goes beyond observation and into productive labor.

According to reports, students have supported Sykes across a range of tasks linked to her publishing operation. The work described includes sourcing photographers, handling analytics, managing social media, and editing content. One intern was described as having worked “tirelessly for a year” on her social media.

The debate is sharpened by how UK employment law guidance treats unpaid internships. Under those guidelines, unpaid placements are generally considered lawful only in limited circumstances, such as when the internship is a required part of a student’s course, when the work is for a charity, or when the arrangement is shadowing that does not involve productive work. Where interns are carrying out productive work, the guidance indicates they are legally entitled to the national minimum wage.

Sykes has said her interns fit within what she describes as a work-experience category. She has characterized them as “work experience people doing a couple of hours of supplementary work experience, shadowing me on fashion appointments,” and has said the tasks are voluntary and casual. The criticism, however, has centered on whether the reported responsibilities align with shadowing or instead resemble ongoing operational support.

The situation has also been compared to earlier disputes in the media sector over intern pay. A frequently cited example is Condé Nast’s $5.8 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit tied to allegations of underpaying interns. That episode remains a reference point in discussions about how media and fashion businesses structure early-career roles.

Critics argue that unpaid internships can disproportionately disadvantage young people from working-class backgrounds by making key career pathways harder to access without financial support. In that context, the TUC has called for legislative changes aimed at clarifying the illegality of unpaid work. The Sutton Trust has also pointed to the growing importance of internships as a route into careers, adding urgency to questions about who can afford to take them.

What remains unclear is how the reported tasks were structured in practice, including the number of hours involved and whether the work was required or optional. The dispute underscores how quickly personal media brands and subscription platforms can resemble small businesses, raising questions about labor standards as creators scale their operations. For the creative economy, the episode highlights continuing uncertainty over where “work experience” ends and paid work begins.