MAJOR NEW FASHION GALLERY OPENS IN
LEICESTERSHIRE
Snibston Discovery Park, Coalville
One of the biggest fashion galleries
outside London opened its doors to the public for the first time at
Leicestershire County Council's Snibston Discovery Park.
The £800,000 gallery, which opened
to the public on Saturday 28th May, allows visitors to explore the story of
fashion from the 1750s to the modern day. Nearly 150 outfits from period
clothing to pieces by celebrated fashion designers including Vivienne Westwood,
Paul Smith, Christian Dior and Biba are on display as are local items from
Leicestershire's textile heyday. The displays also contain modern day clothes
from major high street retailers including NEXT.
Nearly 1,000 square metres is dedicated to the
story of fashion making it one of the most important fashion exhibitions
outside of London and a key place for visitors, students and designers to
visit.
The project came to fruition thanks to a
£680,000 award from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). Commenting on the
importance of the award, HLF's regional manger, Sheila Stone, said: "The
East Midlands used to be the hub of Britain's textile industry and
Leicestershire's museums service has a wide ranging collection of costume and
textiles which reflects the importance of that role.
"The collection contains many rare and
fragile pieces which makes it especially exciting to see them preserved and on
display and HLF is delighted to have been able to help the museum. The
exhibition will undoubtedly become a vital and exceptional resource for anybody
looking to learn and appreciate more about clothes and the history of fashion
and textiles."
Ernie White, Lead Member for Leicestershire
County Council's Community Services, said: "We are delighted and very
proud to launch this fantastic new gallery which will provide an important
educational resource to fashion students and an interesting insight into the
fashion industry for other visitors. It is the culmination of hard work and
dedication by all those involved, to showcase the important collection held and
cared for by our Heritage Service and its relevance to the fashion industry and
its history.
"We are particularly grateful for the
sponsorship and support funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and NEXT PLC and
hope that the Fashion Gallery will be a major draw to all those interested in
the history of fashion and its industries."
The gallery consists of six main themed
areas of interest:
- Why We Wear Clothes - the many different and complex
roles that clothing plays in our day-to-day lives.
- The Body Transformed - how and why the fashion industry
has changed the emphasis and focus on different parts of the female body over
the last 300 years, including items from the Symington collection of corsetry
and foundation wear.
- The Fabric Lab highlights the diversity of natural and
synthetic fibres and their use within the fashion industry.
- The Fashion Theatre provides a unique interactive
centre for the Gallery which allows the visitor to explore the themes of
identity, how clothes are made and the structures of fabrics.
- The Changing Room hosts a series of changing displays
created from Leicestershire County Council's Heritage Service's extensive
collection of historic and contemporary clothing and other important national,
regional and private collections - the first of which will be 'Encounters' -
world styles in western fashion.
- Fashion Works - explores the changing manufacturing and
retail methods of clothing employed over the last 200 years and the different
levels of the fashion industry including couture, designer, boutique,
contemporary high street and home made.
A 'Find out More' section provides
visitors with computer access to important costume collections held around the
Country, in particular those in the East Midlands, and information about
careers within the industry and routes and places of study.
The Fashion Gallery is a partnership, funded by
Leicestershire County Council, supported by a grant from the Heritage Lottery
Fund and sponsored by the fashion retailer NEXT.
Further information can be obtained from:
Snibston Discovery Park
Ashby Road
COALVILLE
Leicestershire
LE67 3LN
Tel: 01530 278444
email: fashion@leics.gov.uk
website: www.leics.gov.uk/museums
[BACK]
Press release and photos reproduced by kind
permission.
