Mark Dunhill, academic dean at Central Saint Martins, at a fashion event in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

He says that Central Saint Martins offers different courses for all aspects of speciality in the fashion industry.

"An artist has to understand how the curator works, how the art market functions, how they are going to measure success, not just in commercial terms but in broad function terms, too."

Dunhill notes that social media makes things more complicated for artists and designers because today, by promoting the idea that everybody is an artist, everybody is a designer.

"It's a massive competition. The world is flooded with ideas and images－how can you move through that and get your work seen? What I see is an explosion of global creative cultures, all influencing each other," says the 60-something veteran.

"I don't have the answer. But I'm sure the young will find their way through."