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The magic of Central Saint Martins

King’s Cross in London is not just the secret entrance to the magical school in the Harry Potter movies. If you find yourself in this popular part of London and look closely, you will see a constant flow of extremely well-dressed students, probably the best-dressed students in the world.

The reason is that ever since 2011 it has been home to Central Saint Martins, the most famous and influential fashion school in the world. In a high-level competitive environment that requires a high degree of involvement, it’s not surprising that names such as Stella McCartney, Paul Smith or John Galliano have emerged from its classrooms.

In fact, many celebrities have also shown an interest in attending classes, such as Pierce Brosnan or the recent Spanish Oscar nominee, Antonio Banderas.

Mallorcan designer Sebastián Pons shared a classroom with the sadly departed Alexander McQueen. In its corridors, McQueen struck up a friendship with Miguel Adrover that would take them to the top of the New York fashion scene. Another former student is the artist Carles Gispert.

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design teaches a wide variety of arts, not just fashion, and in fact has a very liberal approach to teaching. Muriel Pemberton, the visionary founder of the fashion department, used to say “learn the rules, then break them”, a philosophy that all designers participating in London Fashion Week still follow today, many of them ex alumni of this school.

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A school which, although it doesn’t have any flying brooms or incredible spells like Hogwarts, is not short of a good helping of magic.

R: JEN MUNAR