This season, through a three-stepped ritual, the two Central Saint Martins alum, Charles Jeffrey and Bradley Sharpe, showed us a light at the end of the tunnel.

Turning embarrassing moments into the next fashion thing, Central Saint Martins designer Zixuan Guo’s ethos of always seeing the silver linings in life makes for an unforgettable – and rather funny - final collection.

Drawing inspiration from the elements and his favourite childhood animation, Oscar Ouyang’s gutsy final collection, Wind, Current, Flow, uses knitwear to inform his futuristic world.

Kuan-Chien Chiang is the Taiwanese fashion designer coming out of the closet with a new bootylicious collection that celebrates gay sex in all its glory.

Graduating with a collection of female flora, Arianne Scott is the Central Saint Martins final year student using the nostalgia for another’s past to influence her garment design.

Celine Kwan is the Central Saint Martins graduate combining furniture and fashion to create her own living room utopia with “garments that look beautiful while being worn and can also be admired [when] taken off.”

Diverging from a science degree, Justine Janot switched to fashion to be able to “create characters and environments from a more 3D point of view.” Her graduate collection is the antithesis of that, combining traditional making practices with digital design in a collection of hybrid feminine silhouettes set against the backdrop of a hostile, dystopia.

From a BTEC in fashion to Central Saint Martins and beyond, Florence Grellier reflects on her journey as we talk all things full-of-food bellies, guilty pleasures and fashion misconceptions.

Designing clothes for anyone who’s happy to wear a bit of fluff (in delightful shades of lilac, slimy lime and candy apple red no less), Stephanie Uhart is the CSM grad making self-proclaimed ‘wearable soft sculptures’ inspired by the emotional baggage we carry around.

Meet Central Saint Martin’s best and brightest fashion designers, communicators and journalists from this year’s graduating class, a group of students caught in and persevering through a pandemic and global landscape that no one could have ever predicted.

Saranya Umashankar is the first-year Womenswear student at Central Saint Martins who takes inspiration for her whimsical designs from Mata Hari, who Umashankar believes to be “the embodiment of power in female disguise.”

Imagine a whimsical funfair where the clouds are candyfloss, carousel horses roam free and clowns flaunt chromatic dreamcoats with oversized buttons and bulging sleeves. For Diane Gaignoux, such imagination is threaded into her design identity. Using a felt-needling method, the French designer makes emotive clothing inspired by our alter egos – with a sprinkle of circus magic.

These days masculinity gets a bad rep, but Jimmy Howe wants to change that. The CSM MA Menswear student is using his designs to subvert the toxicity of manhood and dissect what male means in 2021, all with the aim of creating “healthy menswear”.

For emerging designer Goom Heo, it all started with grannies and grandpas. The South Korean-born Central Saint Martins graduate is in her final tenure at Fashion East and talks to Alice May Stenson about all things memes, internet trolls and futuristic fashion following her horror-fuelled AW21 collection.

After creating his eponymous label Parnell Mooney in 2015 and a breakout stint at Fashion East, the Irish-born designer found himself at a crossroads. “I don't think I ever really took time and thought…what do I actually like? What am I into?” explains Parnell-Mooney. Now the designer has shaken off the shackles of the industry and is imagining a future where making clothes he wants to wear is simply enough.

Sun Woo Chang is the designer whose eponymous brand has quickly found its fun and joy-bringing role in the fashion world through its lively, bright and experimental designs. In conversation with Ella Bardsley, the Central Saint Martins graduate sees creativity as something to play with; a reminder of being young and toying with imagination.

Central Saint Martins graduate Johannes Warnke is the designer who has captured the attention of Grammy heavyweights, Lady Gaga and Post Malone. Committed to treating his craft and couture as an artistic process, rather than manufacturing for a consumer, the emerging designer is dedicated to sustainable production and saving the planet.

First-year Central Saint Martins student, Mia Coco Chambers, was inspired to create a universe of influential women that go back and forward in time to save other women in need. “Women who had power or an opinion, and were seen as mad or a threat to society. We have to stick together in order to help our own kind.”

Masha Popova is the Ukrainian designer behind some of fashion’s most interesting looks. Worn by the likes of Zara Larsson, Lil Miquela and BLACKPINK, the CSM grad last week showcased her AW21 collection through a film as part of London Fashion Week’s digital-only showcase.

“Finding an internship was like chasing the holy grail,” says third-year CSM fashion student Cécile Bousselat who, together with Maïssane Zinaï have taken measures into their own hands to launch the Central Saint Martins Fashion Alumni Club, an initiative that aims to connect students with internships, jobs and graduates.