Fashion and Textile Museum in London to showcase vintage knitwear from 20th century

The Fashion and Textile Museum is a cutting edge centre for contemporary fashion, textiles and jewellery in London will be showcasing inspirational vintage knitwear from the 20th century that have defined fashion styles and trends over the years.

Chanel to Westwood – Knitwear in Fashion is the first exhibition of its kind to explore not only key designers but also technical innovations in hand, machine and industrial knitting. The exhibition is set to chart the influence of art movements Pop, Punk and Deconstruction alongside new knitwear technologies and design innovation.

On show will be highlights from designs by Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel and rare crocheted evening dresses from the 1930s to late 20th century innovations by Vivienne Westwood which will include 1920s Chanel jersey, vintage woollen swimwear, post-war Hollywood-style knits, 1950s cocktail sweaters, 1960s crochet, 1970s Bill Gibb, 1980s Vivienne Westwood and 1990s Julien MacDonald.

Celia Joicey, the Head of the Fashion and Textile Museum, said on the announcement of the exhibition, that decade by decade, this incredible collection charts over 100 years of knitwear history. Knitwear in fashion is often taken for granted, but this exhibition is an opportunity to celebrate knitwear centre stage and to inspire future design directions.

The exhibition has been made possible by collectors Mark and Cleo Butterfield who will be providing over 150 inspirational knitwear pieces from their collection, which will be open to the public for the first time.

It will also be supplemented with a selection of fashion photographs by Norman Parkinson from the Norman Parkinson Archive, charting the increasing prominence of knitwear in 20th century fashion with iconic images commissioned by magazines including Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and Queen as well as by knitwear companies.

The exhibition will be open from 19 September 2014 through 18 January next year. For more information, you can visit http://ftmlondon.org/ftm-exhibitions/knitwear-chanel-to-westwood/