Condé Nast is College-Bound

In tandem with London Fashion Week, and taking a bold leap from publishing empire to professorial pundits, Condé Nast has announced a College of Fashion & Design, set to open in London in September 2012.

Targeting an enrollment of 300 students, the curriculum will include a one-year British Vogue fashion foundation course, postgraduate courses in Interior Design, Luxury Brand Marketing and Print and Digital Journalism, and intensive 10-week fashion courses. House & Garden is introducing decoration courses, and there will be other MA-level options. 

"Condé Nast is perfectly placed to enter the world of education. We look forward to becoming the go-to academy for students from Britain and further afield," Condé Nast's UK managing director, Nicholas Coleridge commented. "The reputation and authority of our brands puts us in a strong position to teach and inspire the fashion and decorating talent of the future."

Helping run the academy: former Easy Living magazine editor Susie Forbes. "With access to some of the sharpest and most creative minds shaping the fashion, design and interiors industries today, we aim to educate students to the highest level," she said. "It makes perfect sense for Condé Nast to open its College doors in London, the fashion capital of the world."    

The Condé Nast College of Fashion and Design will be competing with the 100 year old London College of Fashion and Central Saint Martins, part of the University of Arts London.

Any chances of Anna Wintour as a devil-wearing Prada guest professor — or former cover subjects, such as First Lady Michelle Obama? The possibilities are tantalizing.