STUDENTS from the University of Winchester rubbed shoulders with the elite this London Fashion Week.

Seventeen BA Fashion Media and Marketing students secured internships with the British Fashion Council and Fashion Scout to work alongside models and designers for the world renowned event.

For ten days the students worked at the epicentre of the UK fashion industry, dressing models, and selling couture to visitors from around the world.

Elle Pearson was among those working with the front-of-house team for Fashion Scout in Covent Garden, and has already been invited back next season, and to Graduate Fashion Week in May.

She said: “It is so important to have the opportunity to get stuck into the working world and really observe and be part of the industry – something you cannot be taught in lectures. It has opened up so many doors for us.

“Of all the people I met I have to say our supervisors were probably the most influential and important. They were the ones who showed us the ropes and understood our position as they once started as interns just like us.

“It was really motivational to see how they had worked their way up to running events as prestigious as this.”

Only last month (February 28) the University held its annual Fashion Event, where key figures from the industry were invited to speak about their experiences, and how to break into the fashion world.

As part of the Fashion Marketing/Management programme, the event welcomed industry professionals, who presented throughout the day in the Westside Gallery.

Course leader, Amanda Bragg-Mollison, said: “The innovative fashion marketing/management programme balances business and creativity; as such our students are well placed to gain employment as the economy becomes more reliant on creative thinkers to compete in many sectors operating within new and fast changing business models of the ‘Creative Economy’.”