The Fashion courses: London, Milan or Paris?

When it comes to fashion, Europe's capital cities each have their own distinctive style. So the budding fashion designer will have an array of choices of places to study. London perhaps for the funky street trends that have made the city famous since the 1960s; or Paris, the heart of haute couture; or Italy where fashion in all forms is one the country's biggest industries; or Germany where elegant, practical design is the key and where Jill Sander is the "Empress of Less".

As befits the all-pervasive, international nature of fashion itself, and the huge number of associated industries, professions and skills that it spawns, prestigious European fashion courses draw on students from all over Europe and the world. And the good news is that for residents of EU member states, studying in other European cities has never been easier. The London College of Fashion (www.fashion.arts.ac.uk), for example, which offers vocational foundation courses and diplomas in fashion styling, fashion pattern technology and beauty therapy, and degrees in areas as diverse as bespoke tailoring and fashion management, charge fees to EU students which match those charged to British students. For most courses available in London's University of the Arts (the umbrella name now given to the group of colleges including Chelsea College of Art, the London College of Fashion, and St Martins), European Union students can find out about financial assistance by applying for a UCAS (University and Colleges Admissions Service) form (www.ucas.ac.uk)

For those who want to come to London and try their hand in the competitive field of fashion design itself, St Martins School of Art and Design (known as London Central St Martins (www.csm.arts.ac.uk) is the place to be. St Martins has nurtured some of the most renowned and innovative fashion designers in the world - including Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen and John Galliano - and the college's annual degree shows are legendary­ - both for the talent that they showcase and for their wackier designs. To be accepted for the Fashion BA Hons, students need to have completed a foundation course in art and design and have a portfolio of work to show at their interview. However, St Martins' laurels may be slipping. Westminster University (www.wmin.ac.uk) is a new contender on the fashion-school block and the fashion pundits are hailing it as the best of the bunch. ("It's what England's all about" said the lady on the Daily Telegraph.) Westminster alumnus Christopher Bailey, the man who transformed Burberry from beige raincoats to über-cool fashion brand ­- said that Westminster's degree show this year put every other show into the shade: "It was rebellious, rude and individual. Most fashion colleges are just too afraid to shock".

Istituto Marangoni (www.istitutomarangoni.com), the world-renowned Fashion Institute in Milan has campuses in London and in Paris -­ establishing itself in the three great fashion capitals of the world. Marangoni, which was founded in 1935, offers Masters' degrees in Fashion Design, Fashion Styling, Fashion Accessories, Fashion Promotion, Fashion Buying and Brand Management. Their three-year undergraduate degree in Fashion design is considered a model, covering history of costume, digital design, fashion drawing and pattern-cutting. But for those who don't want to commit themselves to a three-year stint, they also do what they call "basic programmes": one-year foundation courses, diplomas and summer schools. The fees for a one-year fashion design course at Marangoni are €14,600 and a three-year course is €8,000 per year.

Anyone remotely interested in being in the fashion business will at one time have to come to Italy. If Milan is the current capital of Italian fashion, then Florence is its historical heart. The fashion university Polimoda (www.polimoda.com), which was established in 1986 and has 6 campuses in both Florence and the ancient Tuscan cloth-trading city of Prato, has two Italian fashion emperors to inspire it. The university's president is Ferucco Ferragamo, of the footwear empire, and the President of Polimoda Ltd, which is the commercial wing of the business (which is completely non-profit making -­ all monies are ploughed back into the university) is Santo Versace of Italy's most famous couture house. Most of Polimoda's 1000 students are Italian but 25 per cent are from overseas; several of them recipients of EU study grants such as the Erasmus bursary. Classes are mostly in Italian, a few in English, and Polimoda maintains close links with shareholders whose companies can often then provide employment to graduates. Eighty-five per cent of Polimoda's students get jobs six months after leaving college and 99 per cent of these are in the fashion industry.

For many students, the mention of the word "fashion" can only mean one place -­ Paris. And, of course, there are many places in the French capital where students can study fashion, including the much-revered Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture (www.modeaparis.com). Less stately and a great deal more boisterous is the Studio Bercot (www.studio-bercot.com) where students work in a "real-life" atelier to get the feeling of the tough but creative conditions of hard grind behind the fashion glitz. But the oldest of the fashion schools in Paris is Esmod (www.esmod.com), which recently celebrated its 150th anniversary. Forty-four per cent of Esmod's students come from outside France and they offer comprehensive advice on finance, accommodation and insurance for overseas students. As well as three-year Esmod diploma (which costs €8,740 per year) it is possible to do a one-year fashion design and pattern drafting certificate in evening classes (four a week) for €4,200. For those whose French is less than fluent Esmod offers the first year of its three-year course in English. Though from the second year on you're on your own in French only.

© Lucy Lethbridge. All views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to the European Commission.

Source : http://www.europe.org.uk/index/-/id/217/