McQueen apologises for advertising unpaid, full-time internship British fashion house Alexander McQueen has been forced to apologise after putting out an advert for a full-time, unpaid internship for a fashion student to work at their London studio. The ad in question was circulated around various fashion and design colleges around the capital, and requested a "talented knitwear student" to work in the studio five days a week, nine and a half hours a day for up to 11 months. It further specified that only travel expenses would be paid, as well as just £60 per month in lunch vouchers. The apology came after Shelly Asquith, president of the University of the Arts London Student Union, spotted the request and, angered by the design house's abuse of free, student labour, decided to write them a letter explaining as such. READ: Isabella Blow's custom-made McQueen dress, yours for £35,000 "As if studying for a degree in arts and design wasn't a financial burden enough, your email requests students to work for free for up to 11 months in your studio, and all they will receive in return is a meal voucher," begins the letter. Asquith then goes on to point out the "bitter irony" that a twill-woven jacket from McQueen's latest collection costs £8,930, an amount that almost equals the university fees a fashion student pays each year. "No amount of luxury is worth the slaving away of an unpaid worker," she wrote. That students are spending months creating these pieces of clothing and not seeing any return is downright disgraceful and the label should be ashamed. Asquith later states that what the company were asking the intern to do - 'knitting on a domestic machine and making knitted samples, as well as research, CAD, presentation and organising of the collection' - can be clearly defined as integral 'work', meaning that under UK law the student should be paid the National Minimum Wage. In response, McQueen claim the advert was "issued in error and was not in accordance with our HR policy." "In line with UK government guidance, Alexander McQueen has a strict policy of only accepting interns where the student is required to complete a placement as part of their higher or further education studies," the design house told the Huffington Post. Speaking to The Telegraph , Asquith called unpaid work an "endemic within the fashion industry," and called for the poor practise to be exposed so that the law can be enforced. "I was particular sorry to see unpaid interns being used at McQueen as Alexander [the design house's late founder] himself he was an alumnus of our university, and in his will donated to a bursury scheme at Central Saint Martins (one our our colleges) for poor students to access," she said. His ethos seemed so removed from the current practise of non-payment and exploitation, and given his [working class] background it seems unlikely he'd have ever have been able to afford to do an unpaid internship. Many talented students may have trouble succeeding in art and design because they just aren't able to get the inital experience, because so many placements don't pay a wage. The issue of extended unpaid internships within the fashion industry is ever-present. Many fashion students are forced to undertake unpaid positions in the belief that is 'the done thing' and that in order to progress in their careers, they must. In 2011, Stella McCartney was forced to close down its much-criticised unpaid work experience programme after pressure from student campaigners, but many design houses still operate on a no-pay basis.