There was not an elbow patch in sight at the Royal College of Art's postgraduate fashion show last week, the annual occasion when academia's better dressed members get to mix comfortably with the country's top designers, safe in the knowledge that they are firmly ensconced behind the future of the British fashion industry.
Competition for a seat close to the catwalk is almost as fierce as the demand for places on the RCA's MA in fashion, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Staff at the school of fashion and textiles usually sift through more than 200 application forms each year, in search of a mere 30 talented individuals to fill its men's and women's wear options.
Although students are usually expected to have a relevant BA at least, some places are awarded on artistic flair alone.
For just a few hours every year, the RCA's Henry Moore Gallery turns into a sea of "beautiful people", all willing to queue for over an hour to ensure that they get a glimpse of next season's trends before the rest of the world does. While the fashion students themselves know how to graduate in style, the show simply oozes with the confidence the college has in its proteges, with barely a square inch going unphotographed.
Slick, professional and daring, it is easy to see why the RCA and its graduates excite the fashion world. "I come every year to look for ideas for photo shoots," says a freelance magazine stylist, anxiously scribbling notes down on a lurid pink notepad.
"The stuff here is always of such a high standard and the students find that they get snapped up right away. Oh, look at that," she breathes, as a skinny model stalks past in a see-through top and tin-foil shoes.
Founded in 1948 by Madge Garland, the UK's first professor of fashion and former editor of Vogue magazine, the two-year course boasts a 98 per cent employment rate. Strong links with industry and work placements in international design houses help students to get used to working under real pressure.
Yet, as Claire Ferguson, 24, a final-year postgraduate knitwear student explains, behind the glitzy glamour of the catwalk is a long, hard slog.
"After working 24 hours a day on your collection, the show feels like a bit of an anti-climax. I don't know if any of us will get snapped up right away, but I have had a few responses so far and they have all been really positive. The whole course has been really tough work, but definitely worth it," she says.
Fashion at the RCA is no longer centred on trips to Parisian fashion houses and genteel cocktail parties. Instead, it has evolved into a hard-nosed, dynamic subject that has worked hard for its academic status.
Christopher Frayling, the RCA's rector, emphasises the college's teaching and research links with industry and commerce.
"Its role is to stimulate the fashion industry rather than to serve it, which is precisely what the industry wants and needs. We now have a highly stimulating environment to incubate the very best talent."