Thoughts from the Bus Stop

Fashion Lives is a new exhibition at the British Library, running from 11 November 2005 – 7 February 2006. It will bring together a collection of post-war fashion leaders who have defined their profession and played a unique role in shaping the fashion industry as we know it today:

"The exhibition, curated by Alistair O'Neill from London College of Fashion (LCF), features exhibition design by St Martin’s graduate William Hall. It includes a specially commissioned repeatable design by fashion duo Eley Kishimoto that will form the backdrop to the exhibition and a series of commissioned portraits by the photographer Gareth McConnell.

The exhibition draws on the Oral History of British Fashion collection of oral history interviews from the National Life Story Collection at the British Library's Sound Archive. This new collaborative initiative between the London College of Fashion and the British Library documents fashion and its related industries within living memory. It contains interviews with Percy Savage, the man who was the first 'fashion PR' and was the name behind Christian Dior’s Eau Sauvage scent; Lily Silberberg, a former pupil of Barrett Street Needle Trade School and a teacher at London College of Fashion; Leslie Russell the 'Smile' hairdresser who, in the 1960s, cut the hair of Cathy McGowan (of 'Ready Steady Go' fame) and Peter Sellers; Savile Row tailor Angus Cundy of Henry Poole & Co; Marit Allen, former Young Idea at Vogue Fashion Editor from 1963 - 1973 and now an award winning costume designer for films such as Eyes Wide Shut and The Hulk; Tommy Roberts, the owner of the King's Road boutique 'Mr Freedom' in the 1970s and 'two columbia road' today; John Church, of Church’s Shoes, Northampton; and Michael Southgate of Adel Rootstein mannequins in London.

The fascinating reflections of each of the contributors highlights the importance of recording the craft skills and business techniques of the ever-changing British fashion industries. The exhibition stresses the continuing importance and relevance of ways of working that have been lost through the process of modernisation, by inviting a number of contemporary practitioners such as bespoke tailor Timothy Everest, womenswear designer Shelley Fox, fashion illustrator and designer Julie Verhoeven, and milliner Dai Rees to talk about the influence and importance of the work of each of the interviewees on their work today.

As well as oral testimonies, the exhibition will include a selection of printed ephemera, personal papers, clothing and textiles, newspapers and magazines, sketches, samplers and tools..." (...continues)

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