V&A/LCF Seminar: Fashion Curation Now

'V&A/LCF Seminar: Fashion Curation Now' is a collaborative seminar developed by London College of Fashion’s Centre for Fashion Curation and the V&A Research Institute. The seminar explores the evolving field of fashion curation through the lenses of collecting and storytelling.

To celebrate the partnership between East Bank sites — V&A East Storehouse and London College of Fashion’s Centre for Fashion Curation — 'Fashion Curation Now' positions fashion curation as a methodology, responsive to changing cultural, political and institutional conditions. The panel discussions contribute to the growing discourse around socially engaging fashion collecting strategies and object-focused learning, foregrounding the relationships and tensions between institutional practices and those working across and beyond museum contexts.

Session 1: On Collecting

Our first panel discussion will introduce the V&A and London College of Fashion’s institutional collecting strategies, offering insight into how and why fashion objects are acquired. We will explore how curatorial approaches are framed within a global context, examining issues of decoloniality and sustainability and how contemporary fashion curators and archivists navigate these shifting definitions in their work.

Chaired by Amber Kim

Session 2: Storytelling Across Fashion Research, Conservation and Curation

In this second session of the seminar, we gather together a panel of esteemed researchers, dress historians, curators and conservators to reflect on fashion storytelling across research and museum contexts. We’ll be thinking about how clothing tells stories about its wearers and its makers and how these stories are preserved, shaped and mediated through different academic and museum professions.  

 Chaired by Caroline Stevenson

 

Speakers

Connie Karol Burks: Curator, Fashion and Textiles since 1900, V&A

Rosalie Kim: Curator, Korea, Asia, V&A

Chloe Gilbert: Archives and Curatorial Assistant, LCF

Dr Eve Lin: Programme Director of Integrated Studies, London College of Fashion

Judith Clark: Professor of Fashion and Museology, London College of Fashion

Hannah Sutherland: Senior Textile Conservator, V&A

Dr Cassie Davies-Strodder: Curator, Fashion and Textiles since 1900, V&A

Dr Ingrid Mida: Author, art and dress historian

Panel discussion takes place at 17:30-20:00 in Gallery 2 followed by an evening reception at 20:00-21:30 in Foyle Creative Centre