The Clothes Show Live 2012 at the Birmingham NEC was for me, one of the best days of the year. For someone who aspires to be a fashion and costume designer, there is no better experience; I gained knowledge, inspiration and insight from the different aspects of this fabulous fashion event.

The huge exhibition halls were filled with hundreds of different stalls, selling everything from clothing to make-up, shoes to books and magazines, make-overs to the latest inventions by the most recent winner of the BBC's show The Apprentice! Wandering around the maze of stalls looking for bargain buys it was easy to get lost or even scouted by the different modelling agencies looking for new, young, fresh talent to pounce on.

The fashion show, in the Suzuki Fashion Theatre, was based around the theme of "A day in the life of a fashion magazine'. It included male and female models showing off outfits from a range of designers including top fashion houses alongside the work of university design students. The 45 minute show was a choreographed spectacle of music, dance and catwalk modelling that was inspiring for those of us on the trip who want to go into the design and fashion industries.

The show was introduced by one of my personal favourite designers, Henry Holland, who was accompanied by Grace Woodward. Their energetic style of presenting got the audience of 5,000 people in the mood to sing along, applaud and get involved with the challenges set throughout the day. Other celebrities making brief appearances during the day included Amy Childs, from The Only Way Is Essex, Peter Andre, and Times Red, a band from the 2012 X Factor competition, who got as far as the judges houses.

Although it sounds all fun and games, we were there to learn! Experiencing the atmosphere, getting an insight into what the fashion industry involves and studying the designs both on and off the catwalk from fashion students around the country, proved to be very helpful with our textiles and art and design coursework.

Written by Year 11 student, Amy