Art-iculate: Catwalk to Cover – a front row seat

 A couple of weekends ago I ventured down to one of my favourite Central London spaces, the Fashion and Textile Museum to see the exciting new exhibition Catwalk to Cover – a front row seat. Looking back from the first ever globally reported ready-to-wear catwalk show to the recent SS12 shows, Catwalk to Cover – a front row seat documents the magic of the fashion spectacle; with fashion week street style, intimate backstage snaps of models, a guide to who’s who of the frow – from editor to blogger to celebrity – and the resulting production streamed to millions of hungry eyes the world over.

A relatively modern phenomenon, the catwalk show can be dated as far back as fashion parades that took place in Paris couture houses in the 19th Century, however it will come as a surprise to many that designers didn’t really consider going it alone and showcasing en masse until the early ‘90s, with NYFW being the first collective stage established in 1993.

Spotlighting an exclusive and aspirational sphere, this fly-on-the-wall exhibition aims to shed some light on the inner-workings of the fashion machine, conveying the heady combination of chaos and creativity, paying particular attention to how it is marketed and presented to the world, detailing what happens behind the scenes and which opinion formers make a designer’s collection global news.

Featuring over 1,000 high-octane images from the most prolific catwalk photographers of our time, this sprawling display also features some breath-taking archive samples from the most famous names in their field: Christian Lacroix, Osman, Lanvin and Vivienne Westwood to name but a few.

What is most compelling about Catwalk to Cover – a front row seat is that it simultaneously dispels several myths about fashion, with one crucial misconception being that designers are among the most influential and envied creatives’ in the world. The truth is that designers have to work to extreme deadlines, rely on the talents of the team around them: creative directors, models, hair stylists, make-up artists etc. and the support and endorsement of the influentials: fashion editors, top tier bloggers and celebrities.

Over the past five years there has been a slight shift seeing bloggers and photographers increasingly relied upon to interpret the designer’s message and play a pivotal role in the distribution of imagery via social networking sites and blogging platforms.

Offering all fashion enthusiasts and professionals alike an opportunity to experience the view from the front row, Catwalk to Cover – a front row seat is a captivating insight into the inner-workings of what is one of the world’s most successful and glamorous industries.

Catwalk to Cover – a front row seat is showing at the Fashion and Textile Museum until 26th February 2012.

Timney-Fowler at the FTM

Several weeks ago amongst the chaos of press days I popped down to the Fashion and Textile Museum to preview their newest exhibition, Sue Timney and the design of Timney-Fowler. Having not heard of Sue Timney prior to reading about this inspired exhibition I learnt that her company Timney-Fowler, is best known for its distinctive graphic black and white imagery, transcending the boundaries of fashion and interior design.

With 2010 marking the 30th anniversary of Timney-Fowler, Sue has collaborated extensively with the FTM to bring us a wealth of unique archive material, chronicling her career from the first fabrics created through to her newest projects. Key pieces on display include several black Neoclassical heads, 19th Century cast iron railing designs and the legendary clock face design which has become an iconic symbol of the brand. As always my favourite part of the exhibition were the pages taken from Sue’s sketchbooks; giving me a unique insight into her working practices whilst drooling over her hand-printed short-run fabrics that featured in her original Portobello Shop.

Beginning with Sue’s journey from her early monochromatic work to later designs where she included colour, photographic printing and mixed prints, the exhibition was curated beautifully, giving us a loose timeline of Timney’s illustrious career. Set against a special backdrop created by Sue, the museum came to life with a wall of fabrics and samples; products; scarves and shirts bearing her distinctive designs.

Speaking of her work Sue says: “I don’t think that there was ever a time when it didn’t matter to me what my surroundings looked like. They matter, and have always mattered, in the same way that my appearance and what I wear has always mattered.... Even as a child growing up I learned that you could customize everything.”

With a client list reading like a who’s who of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Timney's best-known clients have included: Ringo Starr, Alan Rickman, Billy Connelly, Sir Paul Smith, Sir Elton John and Stella McCartney, proving she is every bit the creative’s creative.

Horrockses Fashions

A few weeks ago I popped down to the Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey to have a look at the new exhibition; Horrockses Fashions. Not really familiar with the brand before I visited (as is sadly the case for a lot of traditional British brands who had their heyday in the first half of the 20th Century, ceasing trading long before I was born), I learned that Horrockses Fashions Limited was the manufacturer of one of the most respected ready-to-wear labels of the 1940’s and 1950’s, with the company best known for its full-skirted dresses that were eagerly sought after and whose popularity was cemented after being worn by the Queen.

A timeline chronicling the peaks of Horrockses success brought together fashion photography, archive materials and fabric swatches, enhanced by personal recollections and a selection of exquisite dresses from private and public collections looking at the brand’s role in post-war British fashion and the link between couture and ready-to-wear clothes during the period. Through the wealth of the aforementioned materials available FTM expertly explore the links between manufacturing, design, and the emergence of ‘brands’ during this remarkable era, focusing on how targeted selling and advertising helped shape the customer relationship with Horrockses.

As enchanting as all previous exhibitions (remember how much I enjoyed Very Sanderson?!), I was blown away by how beautifully printed and cut the clothes were – in the prettiest and most luxurious fabrics and colourways. With sexy hourglass enhancing silhouettes a plenty and - what may now be considered as ‘old fashioned’ -house coats on display, my mind instantly drew parallels to Mad Men and the recently re-popularised fashions of the early 1960’s, where everything was geared towards highlighting the waist.

After wondering through this exhibition all I could think for the rest of the day was, why don’t they make clothes like that anymore? Surely modern women want to look just as classically beautiful... Answers on a postcard please!

Horrockses Fashions – off the peg style in the ‘40s and ‘50s is showing until 24th October 2010.