Textiles at the V&A - Changing Times

Detail from tapestry 'The War of Troy' made 1474-1490, maker unknown.
Currently on display in the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Courtesy V&A

There has been much internet chatter about plans for changes to the storage and exhibition of textiles both at the V&A Exhibition Road site and their archive store at  Blythe House, Kensington Olympia.  I contacted them for clarification, and was given a statement by the Press Office. Although not specified in the statement, it is my understanding that visits to collections at Blythe House will be continue to be by appointment, with the advantage that new online cataloguing will enable 'self-selection' by visitors prior to their visit.  For the more casual visitor there will ultimately be new, extensive galleries and exhibitions at the V&A.

Anyone planning a special visit to the V&A before Spring 2012 would be well advised to contact them beforehand to make sure what will be on view at the time.  The loss of the textile frames will be particularly felt.  The statement below says they are at present 'considering the installation of a similar set in the future', so anyone with strong feelings about this might care to contact the textile curator via textilesandfashion@vam.ac.uk.


"The V&A is creating a new Textile and Fashion Study and Conservation Centre at Blythe House, for the care, study and enjoyment of textiles and fashion. Opening in 2013, the Clothworkers’ Centre will be the most important national and international centre for fashion and textiles.

Based at Blythe House in Kensington Olympia, the new Centre will bring the V&A’s extensive textiles and fashion collection together under one roof for the first time. It will provide modern storage, enhanced and expanded conservation facilities and a new public Study Centre and Seminar Room offering all our users increased access and improved facilities to study and enjoy this important collection. The main entrance of Blythe House will also be reinstated to create a more welcoming street presence and a new reception area.

In November 2010, the existing fashion gallery was closed for refurbishment and the Textiles Galleries closed permanently from March 2011, as part of the preparations for the new Clothworkers' Centre. At the beginning of 2012 the fashion gallery will reopen as a two storey gallery, effectively doubling the gallery space for displays of fashion at the Museum. It will include a display of historical dress and textiles, and space for temporary exhibitions, the first of which will focus on British ballgowns from 1948 to the present day.

In addition, we have just announced a new project for Exhibition Road which will not only provide us with new world-class exhibition galleries, but crucially, will also release 1300 square metres of display space for the collections. Our long term ambition is to use that space to provide a new home for textiles and fashion allowing us to show the full range of this collection in vastly improved surroundings.

The textile frames were a popular element of the textile galleries and we are considering the introduction of a similar system into the new fashion and textile galleries in the future. There will also be a set of frames installed with a fresh selection of textiles at the Clothworkers’ Centre. 

The V&A’s Textile & Fashion collection is currently being photographed and catalogue entries for 12,000 textile and fashion objects will be available online this year through Search the Collections (http://collections.vam.ac.uk).

Textiles can also been seen throughout the permanent displays in the V&A, including a wide range of embroidery, tapestry and furnishing silks in the Medieval & Renaissance Galleries, exquisite examples of chintz, lace, carpets and rare fashion items in the British Galleries, as well as in galleries devoted to China, to Japan and to the Islamic world.

The Clothworkers’ Centre is being made possible thanks to a generous lead grant from the Clothworkers' Foundation (www.clothworkers.co.uk)."