The RCA is famed for its ability to attract world-class speakers from across the creative spectrum. Leading practitioners and academics in disciplines including fashion, fine and applied art, industrial and graphic design, photography, film-making and digital media, from Jean-Paul Goude to Gianni Versace, have presented at the College.

Throughout the academic year, a huge variety of thought-provoking lectures, seminars, conferences and events bring together those at the cutting edge of the creative industries, providing a platform for democratic knowledge exchange. The opening up of academic debate to a wider audience is a key tenet of the RCA, and because of this, many of these prestigious lectures are free and open to the public.

The acclaimed British designer Thomas Heatherwick, who graduated from the then MA Furniture programme in 1994, recalls how seeing ‘incredible’ speakers Gianni Versace, David Chipperfield and Jean-Paul Goude were among the highlights of his time at the College:

‘It broke down the sense that there was an impossible gulf between being a student and becoming the very best practitioner you can.

‘To be sitting three metres away from someone whose work you admired enormously and believed to be the best in the world at what they did; to be able to look into their eyes and hear the way they spoke, it gave you so much confidence and encouragement.

‘You were learning from those at the pinnacle of their ability. To have proximity to such excellent, pioneering speakers was what kept me going.’

The RCA has recorded many of these talks and lectures. Click on the links below to discover more.