By Kim Tran
Vivienne Westwood’s Nostalgia of Mud Autumn/Winter 1983 Collection displayed at Dirty Looks Exhibition at the Barbican Centre. Credit: Kim Tran
London has long been crucial for fashion genius, birthing icons like Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood; both hailing from working-class roots who reshaped the industry with raw tailoring and punk rebellion.
Yet today, faced with the cost of living crisis, class remains the hardest barrier to style out in Britain’s creative economy. The Sutton Trust research revealed that among under-35s, roughly four times as many middle-class people are in creative jobs compared to their working-class counterparts, despite the latter forming a larger share of the overall workforce.
The sector’s reliance on unpaid internships and precarious freelance work deepens these inequalities, forcing working-class creatives to juggle rent, side-hustles and relentless barriers just to gain a foot into the industry.
Freelance photographer Jessica Javier, 21, says it has been a struggle to keep up in the industry alongside her peers. “For some jobs, having newer camera gear are an expectation, and knowing that I am unable to upgrade frequently like others around me, at times it makes me feel like I am not suited to be a photographer unless I constantly keep working to develop my portfolio and get more jobs to afford upgrading to a better kit.”
Concert photography at All Points East festival in London 2022. Credit: Jessica Javier
“I think the opportunities were readily available but unpaid work, travel expenses and equipment again has made it quite difficult to take up those opportunities.”
Due to her financial background, Javier has felt that some doors were closed for her: “There have been many opportunities that I could have put myself forward or been encouraged to go for but had hesitated or just not tried at all because I felt like the gear I had was not suitable for the job.”
This experience has also been the same for Wunnai Tam, 22, a footwear designer at Jacobson Group, who says that trying to break into fashion has been an uphill struggle.
”Nowadays, getting into the fashion or just the creative industry in general is definitely harder. I feel like a lot of people tend to need a connection or someone that they may know to not get in but just having a chance to get their CV or portfolio seen properly by a designer or anyone from a design background.”
Wunnai Tam’s shoe he created for his Doc Martens work experience. Credit: Wunnai Tam on Instagram
Many young creatives are taken advantage of, he says. “Even if you had the chance to get a job, a lot of the time our industry is underpaid. Especially if you were in London, they tend to assume you had a wad of cash in your back pocket on standby to commit to a job that is underpaying you.”
As London’s working-class creatives keep pushing through, their stories show just how uneven the playing field is. It takes more than talent when rent is due and networks aren’t handed to you.
Last year, Labour’s culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, promised to make access to the arts more accessible but there has been no signs of real change, instead talks of cutting student loans for ‘dead-end courses’ like the arts have been circulating from the Conservatives.
McQueen and Westwood proved you can come from nowhere and change everything. Today’s generation just needs a real shot to do the same.
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