05/04/2026
Is there a new generation of entitled graduates or did I just get lucky?
Because yesterday really tested my patience.
I spoke to a fashion designer straight out of college. He had no experience, no track record, no real understanding of how this industry works. That in itself isn’t the issue. Everyone starts somewhere, and I’ve built a career mentoring unknown designers and giving them their first platform.
So I offered exactly that: an opportunity to showcase at Liverpool Fashion Week.
What I got back left me speechless in all the wrong ways.
He didn’t ask questions to learn. He didn’t show enthusiasm. He didn’t even pretend to understand the value of what was being offered. Along with a full production of a fashion show I give each designer a PR guide as to how to monetise their content. Instead he demanded a free show, interrogated me about where the fee goes as if I somehow aren’t allowed to make a profit on my business and carried himself as if he was doing me a favour by being in the conversation.
This wasn’t confidence. This was arrogance without a shred of substance.
There’s something deeply embarrassing about someone who hasn’t even stepped onto the first rung of the ladder already trying to negotiate like they’re headlining Paris.
And before anyone jumps in with the usual “know your worth” rhetoric, knowing your worth requires actually having one in the market. That comes from experience, from work, from showing up and proving yourself. Not from leaving college and deciding the industry owes you a runway.
Liverpool Fashion Week doesn’t run on vibes. It runs on production, PR, venues, teamwork, promotion and years of relationships that create genuine opportunity for designers who are ready to take it seriously. The fee reflects that.
Shows take months of prep.
But instead of recognising that, he chose to behave like a complete t**t.
Social media has convinced a whole generation that success is instant and that confidence alone can replace talent.
Some people who think they should be at the top before they’ve even started climbing.
The designers who go on to succeed aren’t the ones who swan in making demands on day one. They’re the ones who listen, learn, collaborate, and understand that every opportunity is a stepping stone, not an entitlement.
Attitude matters more than talent .
And. if this is how you show up at the very beginning, ie rude, entitled, and completely lacking in self-awareness, you’re not coming across as the next big thing.
You’re coming across as someone people will actively avoid working with.
Don’t be a c**t. It’s not clever.
