London’s Fashion and Textile Museum highlights the versatility and skill of the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) and its 150-year history in its upcoming fashion exhibition.
The exhibition is titled ‘150 Years Royal School of Needlework: Crown to Catwalk’ and opens on April 1st. More than 120 embroidered pieces and design objects from the period 1872 to the present day are on display and tell the story of fashion and embroidery.
The exhibition presents a wide range of commissioned work completed by the RSN, from royal loans from the Royal Collection, for the church or the military, to contemporary collaborations with designers such as E. Tautz and Nicholas Oakwell.
The exhibition is themed and takes guests on a journey through the many different milestones of the RSN, beginning with the school’s beginnings in the Victorian era and its involvement in the Arts and Crafts movement.
The audience is also introduced to the RSN’s relationship with British history, particularly its involvement in the embroidery of royal clothing, such as a 1937 robe from Queen Elizabeth’s estate (which has not been on display since the 1990s) and the Edward VII’s coronation robe. Finally, the audience learns about the RSN’s commissioned work, including examples from the school’s linen department, which operated into the 1940s, but also about their links with the military, where, among other things, they provided returning soldiers with the Taught sewing as an active therapy.
Royal School of Needlework celebrates 150 years with exhibition in London
The exhibition will also feature several contemporary collaborations and partnership projects that RSN has worked on – including a dress from the eco-fashion campaign “Red Carpet Green Dress” worn by Naomie Harris on the 2013 Oscars red carpet. A dress designed by Michael Badger and made by Vivienne Westwood’s atelier will also be on display. The dress was hand-embroidered by a team of 22 RSN experts in 680 hours.
Also on display will be a one-of-a-kind bomber jacket from Patrick Grant’s FW14 collection, a Nicholas Oakwell dress worn by Erin O’Connor for Vogue and a sample of the Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding dress, featuring the RSN Embroidery Studio has worked in partnership with Alexander McQueen’s Sarah Burton.
Throughout the exhibition there will also be a focus on exploring the work of former students, from former trainees and future tutors, many of whom remain with the RSN and have become expert teachers, to graduates who go on to work in couture fashion houses like Alexander McQueen and on films like Murder on the Orient Express.
There will also be a section showing how sewing can improve well-being, with printed montages of the NHS Embroidered Hearts of Appreciation project and Postcards from Home campaign, which the RSN is supporting during the Covid-19 -Pandemic carried out. There is also a look at the school’s ongoing projects, such as the ‘RSN Stitch Bank’, a collection that aims to digitally preserve and preserve every stitch in the world.
Fashion and Textile Department Exhibitions Director Dennis Nothdruft said in a statement: “The Royal School of Needlework has been instrumental in preserving this nation’s traditional needlework arts. It honors the past while securing its place in the future by marrying contemporary design with unparalleled engineering. The Fashion and Textile Museum is delighted to be collaborating with the RSN to present ‘150 Years Royal School of Needlework: Crown to Catwalk’ – a fitting celebration of this important and esteemed national institution.”
150 Years of the Royal School of Needlework: Crown to Catwalk will be on view at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London from 1 April to 4 September 2022.
This item was previously on FashionUnited.uk
released. Translation and editing: Barbara Russ