Is a $200K Fashion Education at Central Saint Martins Worth It? I ask Aleks Mitrovic.

This episode is conversation between Zara Korutz and Aleksandar (Aleks) Mitrovic who both graduated with an MA from Central Saint Martins in 2020 during the pandemic.  Zara graduated with an MA in Fashion Communication: Fashion Critical Studies and Aleks graduated with an MA in Fashion (womenswear pathway).  Aleks spent the past 7 years at Central Saint Martins on the journey of becoming an elite fashion designer earning an MA, BA (Hons) and Foundation diploma in Fashion.  He also received the Ye Lin Scholarship and Nina Stewart award. Aleks is currently is an Associate Designer at DIETY New York and has interned at Hillier Bartley, JACQUEMUS, J.W. Anderson, Mary Katrantzou, and his designs have been featured in Vogue and 1 Granary. When launching his final MA collection during London Fashion Week 2020, Aleks expressed that in some ways the collection is a continuation of his pre-collection that was inspired by 1990’s dull office look. Aleks' final collection structurally stands on its own and is similar to the designer who was born in Serbia during the Bosnian Civil War era.  To Aleks, “The MA is all about looking inside of yourself instead of looking at outside sources.” He continued, “They drum into you it’s all about your vibe and things you are interested in.” This sentiment reinforces the idea that becoming a fashion designer at CSM is rooted in self-expression and is a journey of discovery. Considered to be an elite global fashion training ground, Central Saint Martins (UAL) is an art and design school in London, England with a history dating back to 1896. The MA Fashion course, launched in October 1978 by Bobby Hillson, has birthed internationally renowned fashion designer ‘gods’ like Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Christopher Kane, Stella McCartney, Craig Green, Sarah Burton, Kim Jones, Ricardo Tisci, Jonathan Saunders, and more.  According to Business of Fashion, the MA Fashion course at Central Saint Martins, led by Fabio Piras, is ranked 1st in the world with a 11% acceptance rate, 56% international student population, 98% graduation rate, and 23:1 student teacher ratio.  At Central Saint Martins, the fashion tuition for international students is as follows: MA is approx. $46,000,  BA is approx. $95,116, and Foundation is approx. $25,315 (source: https://www.arts.ac.uk/colleges/central-saint-martins).  Please join us for a conversation between two CSM MA graduates of the class of 2020 during the pandemic, fashion school as part of the fashion structural system, and discuss the reality of pursuing a career as a fashion designer.

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