Northumbria University has taken the giant leap of moving a satellite studio into the capital city, with a specially designed hub of creativity in the heart of London's Islington.

At the special press preview last night, a host of ex-students, press, and tutors from surrounding colleges gathered in a vividly-lit renovated warehouse building just off Islington's Upper Street.

The Dean of the design school, a recently appointed Steven Kyffin, who is fresh from his previous post as Senior Director of Design Research at Royal Philips Electronics in the Netherlands, was on hand to open the show, and was joined by ex-student fashion designer Scott Henshall and Chairman of Graduate fashion week, Terry Mansfield, to welcome the crowds and to formally open the new centre of creativity.

Designer Scott Henshall at the opening of the Northumbria University's new London base

Kyffin went on to explain :

"Our new premises in London will provide us with the perfect platform to engage with key stakeholders throughout the creative and fashion world - both in terms of industry and research. We look forward to building on our existing network in London and developing new connections and collaborative partnerships."

Special mention was also made to Alexander McQueen, who Kyffin described as epitomising what any young design graduate could hope to achieve in their lifetime.

Above : Nicola Morgan's work on show, as a graduate of Northumbria University

On display for the design course was the work of Nicola Morgan, who had had great success with her graduate collection from Northumbria University - winning the coveted international Mittelmoda prize in Milan and winning the Fashion Innovation Award at Graduate Fashion Week.

We wish Northumbria University all the best with this exciting move, and look forward to seeing it's next collections on the runway.