Cool school

Everyone's busy. On Tuesday, the annual Glasgow School of Art (GSA) fashion show takes place and the designs created by these third-year students will be among the star attractions. But that's not entirely why I'm here, in the Department of Fashion and Textiles.

I want to get a peek inside the new £50m Reid building, which replaces the outdated Foulis Building and Newbery Tower, and sits across the road from the famous Mackintosh building. I also want to meet the latest crop of young creatives who are studying here, and who hope to follow in the footsteps of graduates such as former British Designer of the Year Jonathan Saunders, whose designs have been worn by celebrities including Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Sienna Miller and Michelle Obama.

Halfway down one of the aisles of booth-like desks 22-year-old Jonathan Douglas is describing his three-piece menswear collection. It is inspired, in part, by ornate military braiding and some magnified images of lace from the GSA archives. Pictures of his three monochrome outfits are pinned up around the booth, the look probably best described as deconstructed chic.

A few desks down, Olivia Qi, 23, from China, is zipping her three intricately embellished knitted dresses into a garment bag. Qi explains she wanted to study on the course because of its reputation. "I saw the opportunities - I thought I want to go here. I went to see lots of different schools but I thought GSA was the best. Jonathan Saunders is one of my favourite designers and the fact that he studied here made me think of coming here."

Glasgow School of Art's Department of Fashion and Textiles has long been a draw for ambitious design students. Textiles design, in various forms, has been taught at GSA since it was founded in 1845, and the department is globally renowned for its influence on the fashion industry. The course was changed in 2010 to include a new fashion design element, including menswear and womenswear, but the specialisms of embroidery, weave, knitting and print remain.

Graduates include celebrated designer Pam Hogg, and Timorous Beasties founders Alistair McAuley and Paul Simmons met while studying there. Then there's Jilli Blackwood, who has created a tartan for the Scottish team to wear at the Commonwealth Games, and Louise Gray, a womenswear designer renowned for the embroidery work she originally studied at the art school.

Bebaroque, the Edinburgh bodywear label worn by stars such as Beyonce, has its roots firmly in the GSA. Founders Chloe Patience and Mhairi McNicol, credit the ethos of the textiles department with helping to form their business. "It had a big influence on us," says Patience, from the duo's studio in Edinburgh. "It's shaped the way that we design and the way that we approach our work."

McNicol, who studied on the undergraduate textiles course between 2001 to 2005, agrees: "Just the way you are working there - you're quite independent - so it's up to you to go above and beyond their expectations in creating your final collections. I can't put my finger on what it exactly is, there is just something about the art college that gives you a drive."

That something - no-one seems able to tell me what it is - has ensured that the textiles and fashion department has a global reputation. Founder of the Scottish Style Awards, Mary McGowne, describes it as "an almost indefinable but omnipresent personality that sets it apart". She adds: "GSA is a world-class beacon of innovation and its fashion and textiles course is globally renowned with good reason. Its output of talent, many of whom have gone on to be major global players, is formidable."

It is not just about high-profile names though. This textiles department has also taught thousands of lesser-known designers who continue to have an influence on fashion and design businesses around the world. Indeed, unlike design education heavyweights such as Central St Martins in London, which is renowned for churning out (in the most stylish possible way) the latest hot designers year after year, you could say that GSA's fashion and textiles course has a quieter - though no less important - reputation.

It is one of needle-perfect embroidery and experimental prints rather than bombastic fashion shows with magazine editors in the front row. It is, simply put, the place to go if you want to learn about the art of fabric in fashion.

"The reputation of this place - I was mindful of the reputation of the school," says third-year student Douglas. "There is such a good community here. They have this thing of being specialists in your field and so you see that around you. So I can see people like Olivia making knitwear, it's not something I can do but I find it inspiring for my work. There's a real intertwined community of people here that can bounce off each other."

Jimmy Stephen-Cran, who has been the head of the fashion and textiles department since 2001, believes the specialisms taught give his students an edge over other fashion graduates. "What makes us special is that we do still teach skills - that's something that has gone in other art schools. It's quite an old-fashioned concept but it works. We've made a conscious decision to mix everyone up so you will get a fashion student sitting next to a weave student. So by the nature of things the fashion student can understand how a piece of fabric gets woven, even though they can't do it themselves. I think that adds a richness to it."

That richness has helped create a number of internationally successful designers, many of whom credit the textiles department with inspiring their careers. "I have the printed textiles department to thank for everything," says Fraser Taylor, one of the co-founders of the influential 1980s design collective The Cloth, which made collections for designer brands such as Yves Saint Laurent, Paul Smith and Calvin Klein. "The Cloth probably wouldn't have existed [without the textiles course]. The intention of The Cloth was to establish a studio that allowed us to work between fine art and design and that was exactly the kind of thinking that printed textiles had. It was something that seemed so inherent to us because of the department's teaching."

Between 1978 and 1981, when Fraser and fellow founder of The Cloth, David Band, studied at GSA, the textiles department had obvious fine-art connections. Students were taught by artist James Cosgrove and the course, according to Fraser, "had a real art bent to it - it seemed like a melting pot of ideas and experimentation". Taking the course, he says, "is the best decision I've probably made in my life".

It is not only those who have studied in the fashion and textiles department at GSA who sing its praises. Beca Lipscombe, who taught the masters course between 2004 and 2012, describes the influence the department has as "a ripple around the world". Certainly Lipscombe, who is one half of fashion label Atelier which works with the Scottish textiles industry, cites the textiles department at GSA as an important influence on her work. "Although I didn't study at the art school, I can safely say that Atelier wouldn't exist without me teaching at GSA," says Lipscombe. "Neither of us studied at GSA. Lucy [McKenzie, the other half of Atelier] and I might have done something else together, but the 10 years [teaching] in Glasgow allowed me to ingest textiles and immerse myself in that world."

Today's textiles and fashion students are busy preparing for their fashion show - the first to take place in the art school's social hub, The Vic, since its refurbishment. Third-year womenswear student Jane Maguire has just handed in her three-piece Inuit-inspired collection. "It's such a creative environment," she says. "You can be who you want to be here. You can be expressive, you can find yourself, you can be inspired by things you didn't know about."

The Reid Building, which officially opens next month, majors on the manipulation of light. The studio spaces are on the north of the building to make the most of the natural light. The large inclined glazing uses the high quality north light which is softer to work with.

Eva Arrighi, fashion editor for The Herald & Times, graduated in 1994 with a first class BA hounours degree in environmental fine art. Going back to do today's fashion shoot, she is thoroughly impressed with the new building. "I'm envious of the people studying in the building. You can feel the buzz in the air when you come in.

"For the shoot we wanted to incorporate the light around the central core. The minimal aesthetics and sensual curves of the building have echoes of Miami and Florida. The infusion of light was perfect."

With not only fashion courses but painting, interior design, jewellery design and product design among the subjects housed in the Reid, all students will benefit from the design and new studio space.