Hi Shoenista,
Well i have enquired about doing a course which i may complete in a few months, but cost do come into to it a hell of alot currently. Central Central St Martins is just down the road from me and have huge respect in the fashion industry, as im sure your aware.
From my ID courses i tend to do alot of research, ergonomics, mood boards, trends etc too.
As you have pointed out its a cycle in many industries to which are extremely hard to become involved in. Like you say, noone wants to pay the training gap between uni and industry and want to hire these people who do it. So how can you ever find a company to do this for you. The amount of people espically lately who want ‘free’ work in design is crazy. What makes it worse is that most of the time you will be doing alot of Cad work or admin etc. Its a shame as many people i know who have funds behind them from a rich family need not to worry about the cost of living working for free in London or where ever.