Date published: 2025-02-28 | Category: Heritage
The project is being supported using public funding by Arts Council England, through its Unlocking Collections programme within National Lottery Project Grants, which aims to enable museums to develop collections-based work and increase public engagement.
Fashion Museum Bath holds one of the world’s leading Designated collections of fashion, spanning 400 years of creativity from 1600 to today. Following the museum’s closure in 2022 for a major transformation, the collection was moved to temporary storage at Dents heritage glovemakers in Warminster, limiting public access. Now, thanks to the Unlocking Collections grant, the Museum is set to revolutionise how audiences engage with its Collection beyond a physical space while plans for its new home take shape.
The first phase of the project will develop a prototype online catalogue, co-created by local young people in partnership with Bath & North East Somerset Libraries. It will focus on Dress of the Year; the Museum’s globally renowned ‘collection within a collection’ which each year celebrates a standout outfit selected by an industry expert to capture the mood and trends of the past year in fashion.
Young people will be invited to share their ideas on the prototype catalogue which will then be user tested by a wider audience to inform the next steps of Fashion Museum Bath’s long-term vision of making its collection accessible to audiences around the world.
The project will offer young people opportunities to develop their creativity while gaining valuable skills in digital design, prototyping, and testing. They will work alongside experts in online collections, gaining practical experience to inspire future careers in the creative industries.
Councillor Paul Roper, Cabinet Member for Economic & Cultural Sustainable Development, said: "We are delighted to receive this grant from the National Lottery and Arts Council England. It's crucial that we continue to invest in our nationally significant cultural assets to enhance public access and we are committed to creating a new world-class Fashion Museum in the heart of our UNESCO World Heritage City. This will support and facilitate the creative industries as well as providing a boost to the visitor economy on which the city relies.
This groundbreaking project which will provide young people with unique opportunities to develop their talents and gain invaluable experiences in Bath, positioning the Fashion Museum Bath at the forefront of cultural innovation."
Sophie McKinlay, Fashion Museum Bath Project Director, comments: "We are excited to embark on this journey to create the museum’s first searchable online catalogue starting with the Dress of the Year collection. This project not only enhances public access to the treasured objects in our care but also fosters collaboration with local young people, and rethinks how it can be experienced for future generations.
By creating an online catalogue, we aim to set a new standard in cultural preservation and accessibility. Explore the Collection underscores our commitment to making Fashion Museum Bath a leader in cultural innovation and community engagement. It marks an exciting moment in our ambition to make Fashion Museum Bath accessible to all."
Emmie Kell, Director of Museums and Cultural Property, Arts Council England, adds: "This is great news for public access to one of the most important Fashion collections in the country. As the Fashion Museum undergoes transformation, the digitisation of its archives will ensure ongoing public access to its unique Designated collections. I’m especially pleased to hear young people will be part of the process and it’s thanks to National Lottery players that we are able to support this work – a project sure to support the museum’s next exciting chapter.”
Initial work on Explore the Collection will begin shortly, with workshops planned over the Spring and Summer. Details will be shared online at www.fashionmusem.co.uk
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About Fashion Museum Bath
A stunning new Museum will be created in the centre of the UNESCO World Heritage City of Bath. It will be the only museum in the UK dedicated to the history and heritage of fashion.
Through exhibitions, displays, a global lending programme, and new education and communal public spaces, Fashion Museum Bath will deliver opportunities for audiences to engage with, learn about, be inspired by, and share their experiences of fashion, past, present and future.
The new museum will:
Provide flexible exhibition spaces to display more of the internationally renowned Bath Fashion Museum Collection than ever before.
- Showcase a changing programme of exhibitions from its own Collection and other major museums.
- Reveal dedicated and accessible spaces for innovative learning and engagement including lectures, workshops, events, school visits, and residencies.
- Offer café and retail areas.
- Offer commercial venue hire opportunities outside of core public hours.
- Support the creative industries by offering career pathways, talent development pipelines, and partnerships.
- Be an exciting and accessible welcoming space for all – the ‘Museum on the High Street’ relevant for all ages and reducing barriers for those who have not engaged with heritage before.
- Establish a landmark cultural asset, free to local residents and uniting local, national and international communities through creative activities linked to fashion.
Bath Fashion Museum Collection: The designated Collection is one of the world’s greatest museum collections of historical and contemporary adult and children’s fashion containing 100,000 objects dating from the 1600s to the present day. It was gifted to the city by Doris Langley Moore in 1959 and has grown in volume and reputation ever since. Today it is valued as one of the most complete histories of British dress and underpins major fashion exhibitions worldwide. In 2024 1.1m people saw Fashion Museum objects on loan.
About Arts Council England
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. From 2023 to 2026 we will invest over £467 million of public money from Government and an estimated £250 million from The National Lottery each year to help support the sector and to deliver this vision. www.artscouncil.org.uk