Westminster Menswear Archive
The Westminster Menswear Archive houses approximately 2000 examples of British menswear that can be used for research by industry and academics to produce new approaches to design practice. It promotes the technical and functional study of menswear design to increase public awareness of menswear as a design discipline and to act as a resource tool to inform contemporary menswear design. The archive deliberately resists a design hierarchy, instead offering a parity of clothing-based objects interspersed with workwear, uniforms, and designer garments.
This diversity of objects has made it a critical resource for industry to inform new design research and generate new knowledge about menswear’s history, materiality, and societal meaning. Researchers from industry include Burberry, Tom Ford, Alexander McQueen, Dunhill, Bottega Veneta, Rapha, Versace, Umbro, and C.P. Company.
The archive includes garments from A-COLD-WALL*, adidas, Aitor Throup, Alexander McQueen, Aquascutum, Austin Reed, Barbour, Belstaff, Berghaus, Blades, BodyMap, Bonneville, Bukta, Burberry, Burton, C.P. Company, Calvin Klein, Carol Christian Poell, Christian Dior, Comme Des Garcons, Craig Green, Gieves, Griffin, H&M, Harrods, Helmut Lang, Irvine Sellars, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Jeremy Scott, John Stephens, Junior Gaultier, Kim Jones, Left Hand, Levi’s, Lewis Leathers, Liam Hodges, Martin Margiela, Masimo Osti, Meadham Kirchhoff, Michiko Koshino, Mr Fish, Nigel Cabourn, Palace, Paul Smith, Penfield, Prada, Sibling, Stone Island, Tommy Nutter, Umbro, Vexed Generation, and Vivienne Westwood.
In addition, the archive houses an extensive collection of utilitarian garments and uniforms from the British Army, Police, US Marines, GPO, Coldstream Guards, British Rail, and other organisations.
- Listing ID: 2320
- Contact: Professor Andrew Groves
- What are your aspirations and plans for the future?: The Westminster Menswear Archive is designed to act as a conduit between academia, research, and industry, allowing new knowledge to be created by studying previous cloth-based objects. As the archive expands, we plan to develop new ways to enable users to access our resources.
- What types of projects are you interested in working on through Future Fashion Factory?: Working with industry and academic partners to expand the use of garment archives and material research to inform future design and manufacturing processes.
