Spring 2012 - Dress and Textile Specialists

industry, and his presence alone ensures press coverage at openings and exhibitions. Burberry’s links
with Yorkshire are established; the famous Burberry Trench Coat has been produced in Castleford,
Yorkshire since the 1960’s. There is also a textile conservator, a respected business director and a
research professor.
Figure 1 First YFA postcard c. 2000
The acquisition methodology of this collection involves critically appraising clothing and accessories
bought, made or worn in Yorkshire in the 20th century. The personal narratives of the garment’s
owners are investigated and preserved through clothing, accessories, photographs, film and audio
recordings, and anecdote. The 20 th century was a period of enormous change in both clothing
production and consumption, the archive provides opportunities for scholars to investigate research
questions related to cultural and socio-economic characteristics of this significant era, including
changing social attitudes and influences, economic prosperity, global trends and the regional
technical excellence in textiles and clothing.
The repository’s aim is to provide a historical and cultural record of Yorkshire life in the 20th
Century that will engage with business, schools, higher education and the local and wider
communities to maximize its impact and ensure long-term sustainability. The YFA is a collection
of vintage clothing and accessories spanning every decade of the 20th century, from debutante
gowns to mill workers overalls, and draws upon material from the local community and is a
national resource that will continue to develop with historically significant donated pieces being
secured from internationally known UK designers, manufacturers, retailers and the general
public. Unlike many other fashion archives, which seek to include examples of all types of
fashion and clothing with the emphasis on the artefact themselves, the research materials at the
YFA allows scholars to approach local history from a new perspective, which allows a method of
interaction with a local narrator and the experience of a more intimate personal history.
‘Fashion and dress are socially salient media that are simultaneously intimate and public
and, once worn or displayed, can be infused with the wearer’s life story and the memories of
those close to them.’ (de la Haye: 2011).
The archive has the support of the School of Design in the
University of Leeds, but it was a grant from the
Clothworkers Company, which enabled the archive to
become publically accessible in 2010. The archive was
able to move into new accommodation, invest in much
needed archiving materials, develop a brand identity
(Fig.2), create a website and launch the first public
exhibition at Salts Mill in April 2011. The patron,
Christopher Bailey brings support and interest from the
business sector. On an ongoing basis, industrial partners
from the fashion industry sponsor student projects using
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