The Mask of Zorro star announced his break-up from the actress, his wife of 18 years, last summer (14), and he subsequently shared plans to relocate to the British capital to pursue his love of design by studying at the prestigious Central Saint Martin's college.

Banderas started the course in August (15), just weeks after his divorce from Griffith was finalised, and he has now confirmed he decided to go back to school to distract himself from his personal problems.

He tells the Saint Martin's 1Granary publication, "Last year my personal life took a turn, and I decided to take some steps ahead. As something that had been cooking in my brain for a while, I decided to put a company together called Antonio Banderas Designs."

Banderas plans to use his new skills to expand the perfume company he set up in the 1990s to include a new menswear line.