It wasn't just the bizarre outfits that attracted curious stares at London Fashion Week on Friday morning. A banner flung out of the window of Somerset House, overlooking the catwalk tents and fashion week crowds, declared: "Paying interns is so in this year."

But is it?

Students from King's College London (KCL) and the campaign group Intern Aware were raising awareness about the continued use of unpaid interns in the fashion industry.

"Fashion companies and the fashion industry are notorious for employing students as unpaid interns," said Anthony Shaw from KCL's student union, who held one end of the banner suspended from the window.

"London Fashion Week now occurs every year on our doorstep. This was a perfect opportunity to go out and raise awareness of the issue. Unpaid internships aren't just an issue for King's students but for all students. They are illegal and demonstrate the exploitation that students face when trying to get into work."

Holding the other end of the banner was Areeb Ullah: "Unpaid internships have a massive impact when it comes to access to certain careers, particularly for people from low socio-economic backgrounds.

"The reality is that in most cases unpaid internships are against the law, but fashion designers recruit unpaid interns on sometimes a monthly basis."

King's College student union vice presidents with their banner, that was hung out the window at Somerset House, East Wing. Photograph: Libby Page/The Guardian

This time last year, I joined Intern Aware and the University of the Arts London in a protest not dissimilar from this year's demonstration. We wore "pay your interns" T-shirts and handed out "goody bags" containing information about the national minimum wage.

I'd expected stilleto-sharp stares from the fashion week attendees, but was surprised by how warmly we were received. "Yes, this is an important issue," people said.

So has anything changed much in the past 12 months?

Last year's protest at London Fashion Week, against the use of unpaid interns in the fashion industry. Photograph: Ben Lyons

Campaigning against unpaid internships has been stepped up, not least at KCL. "At the union we've taken a moral stance that any interns we recruit we pay them the Living Wage, because internships should be an investment in people rather than free labour."

Several arts universities have taken a stand against unpaid work, refusing to advertise opportunities that do not pay at least minimum wage.

The banner was removed by security within minutes. Photograph: Libby Page

But, says Shaw, it's a practice that still happens in the industry. "We have had students who have had to do year-long full-time unpaid internships while working a part-time job to support themselves, which is completely unacceptable."

Each year students help out behind the scenes at London Fashion Week, often unpaid.

Chris Hares, campaigns manager at Intern Aware, says: "It is shocking that the fashion industry still doesn't get it when it comes to unpaid internships. There is a culture of taking young people for granted stitched into the fabric of the industry. We have reported several adverts for unpaid work to HMRC to investigate."

The protest banner that was hung overlooking the Somerset House courtyard was removed by security within minutes. It looks as though, for now at least, payment for interns is still off-trend in the fashion industry.