If he says boo, they jump. And if he says I don't like that, they go off and see what he'd do. Hero worship is an age-old problem in education, and the RCA is an interesting breeding ground for it. It is also a closed, exclusive, and unreal society. Contact with design stars is the norm here, and it can encourage students to feel like they are stars too, which can be hard when they come out the other side and feel the ice-cold wind of the real world on their faces, not to mention on their lofty ideals.
Expectations are inevitably high, and things can get tough.
Definitely screwy-headed, in the best possible way, is the charismatic Ron Arad, who took over the furniture department two years ago. Arad was the one in the show with the hat and the camera. Arad doesn't much like the easy, baggy suit he modeled in the show, although it was his first ever. It's too formal. The project was run by British fashion's favorite maverick, Alexander McQueen, whose presence as a visiting lecturer caused great excitement among the students.