Further proof that this whole internship thing is totally out of hand: the Italian designer Versace has put one of its mad exclusive and totally unpaid internships up for auction, and the bidding is climbing through the thousands. With a week left to go, some misguided parent may pay over ten thousand dollars to get their nineteen-year-old cleaning up fabric scraps.
The Observer noted today that the couture house placed the item up for sale on the charity auction site Charity Buzz. Bidding commenced on December 21st and has increased incrementally since. The terms of the sale specify that the winner will indeed receive no monetary compensation. According to Charity Buzz the internship is "unpaid and requires paperwork for college credit. Duration is for 1 semester in the Fall, Spring, or Summer."
Presumably the designer to the ultra-rich contributed to the site to get some charitable giving brownie points. But is it really giving if you get free labor in return?
