Spring 2012 - Dress and Textile Specialists

The Museum Award is an annual award of £3000 for a textile related project within a museum or
archive. It is designed to support projects such as exhibitions or publication that will help achieve
greater awareness and access to the public. Deadline this year will be 1 st June 2012.
The Professional Development Award is an annual award of £1000, which is aimed at professionals
who wish to progress in their career and have a genuine enthusiasm for their project. The deadline
date for this is August 1 st 2012.
For more information on the awards see www.textilesociety.org.uk
The Textile Society’s 3rd London Antique Textiles Fair will be held on the 7th
October 2012 at Chelsea Old Town Hall, London SW3. For more information see the website or email
atf@textilesociety.org.uk
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Fashion at the V&A www.vam.ac.uk/page/f/fashion
Redesigned Fashion Gallery
The V&A’s fashion gallery has been housed in Gallery 40 since the 1950s and is one of the most
popular in the Museum. As part of the ambitious FuturePlan to transform the Museum, the fashion
gallery is currently undergoing architectural renovation and redesign by 6a Architects. It will re-open
in May 2012 to coincide with the Ballgowns exhibition.
It will open with a completely re-curated display of fashion from the collection, led by the V&A’s
Senior Fashion Curator, Claire Wilcox. Around 100 outfits will be arranged chronologically to reflect
the quality and breadth of the V&A’s collections. It will include many outstanding items, from a
magnificent mantua from the 1760s, a man’sfrock coat from the 1790s, to an 1850s wedding dress
with veil and shoes and a splendid magenta silk crinoline by Mme. Vignon from the 1860s. There will
be late 19th-century tailored costumes and high laced walking boots, an embroidered evening coat
in the Japanese style by Worth, brightly coloured flapper dresses with an ostrich fan and early tennis
wear and swimwear. Also on display will be a Schiaparelli evening coat with embroidered design by
Jean Cocteau, a black satin evening dress by Charles James accessorised with an aluminium Art Deco
evening bag, a Utility suit with Ascher printed silk scarf, ‘Zemire’ by Christian Dior (1954), as well as
other evening dresses by Balmain, Balenciaga, Givenchy and Lanvin Castillo. Op Art designs, works
by Ossie Clark and an original Biba dress worn by Barbara Hulanicki will represent British fashion in
the 1960s and 1970s. A punk outfit by Vivienne Westwood will rub shoulders with a deconstructed
ensemble by Comme des Garcons while a case dedicated to contemporary fashion will include
recent acquisitions from Versace, Gaultier, Armani, Helmut Lang, Dior and Dries van Noten. These
will be accompanied by shoes by Nicholas Kirkwood and Prada, and fashion photography by Tim
Walker. The renovation of the gallery will allow a new, multi-faceted approach to the display,
which will incorporate underwear, accessories, textiles, lace, fans, scarves, and jewellery. Fashion
dolls, miniature dresses, pattern books, photographs, portraits and chairs from each period will
provide contextual background.
The Architectural Refurbishment
Gallery 40 was designed as a spectacular Edwardian domed court with large alcoves,
architectural columns and ornate mosaic flooring. The refurbishment project will reveal and restore
the gallery’s original architecture to provide a sense of grandeur, ambience and light. The project will
enhance the features of the domed ceiling with a new lighting scheme. The gallery will be fully
redecorated, the mosaic floor will be revealed and restored, and the original grand entrances and
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