Central Saint Martins was formed in 1989 from the merger of two, much older, colleges: the Central School of Arts & Crafts (founded in 1896) and St Martin’s School of Art (founded in 1854).
Both of the founding colleges were internationally renowned for the work of their students and staff. St Martin’s was particularly well known for fashion and fine art and the Central School for a wide range of design and art, including theatre design, industrial design and graphic design.
In 1999 Drama Centre London (founded in 1962) merged with Central Saint Martins which has enabled us to add performing arts to our portfolio of courses. In September 2003 Byam Shaw School of Art joined Central Saint Martins. We are currently collaborating with London Studio Centre to add undergraduate degrees in dance to our course portfolio.
Our former staff and students have included some of the most important British and international artists working over the last 150 years from May Morris, the daughter of William Morris, and William Lethaby who founded the Central School, to Lucien Freud and Frank Auerbach who studied fine art at St Martin’s in the middle of the 20th century, to the latest wave of exciting British fashion designers including John Galliano, Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney who have changed the face of international fashion in the 1990s. Many well-known actors including Colin Firth (Bridget Jones’ Diary) and Pierce Brosnan (James Bond) have studied at Drama Centre London
