Fashion and Textile Museum London

The Fashion and Textile Museum is a cutting edge centre for contemporary fashion, textiles and jewellery in London. The museum, located in Bermondsey Village, is in a building designed by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta.

Founded by British designer Zandra Rhodes, it has changing exhibitions that explore these creative areas.

It also runs an academy that offers workshops, short courses, regular courses, talks and events for students and businesses.

The museum shop showcases the the products of some of the best up and coming and established designers in the UK. A large range of fashion and textile books as well as gifts and postcards can be purchased. The cafe specializes in serving different kinds of tea.

An example of their exhibitions is the one that ran until the end of June, 2013. It was Kaffe Fassett-A Life in Colour. is a celebration of the work of one of the great practitioners of contemporary craft. This exhibition, the first in London since Kaffe Fassett’s record-breaking show at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1988, featured over 100 works within a dramatic installation designed by Sue Timney.

Exhibition highlights included extravagantly-coloured 9-foot-wide knitted shawls, coats and throws, patchwork fabrics shown in a glorious selection of quilts, as well as items especially created for this exhibit and not seen in public before. The design also featured a ‘feeling’ wall that allowed visitors to touch and better understand the textiles on display and their construction.

From his childhood in the creative community of Big Sur, California, to his career as a painter, and later as a knitwear and textile designer in London from the 1960s to the present day, Kaffe’s ability to blend pattern, texture and colour has won him a dedicated following of enthusiasts.

Fashion and Textile Museum London
London, Greater London
83 Bermondsey St, SE1 3XF
Tel. 020 7407 8664
Open: Tue-Sat, 11am-6pm; check website for shop and cafe hours as closings, etc are regular occurrences
Web: Fashion and Textile Museum London