Activities

Democracy is on the minds of many today with fears that it is potentially in peril and warrants urgent attention. Sadly this is not a new phenomenon as we will discover at this ground breaking exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey. Join us for a guided tour to learn how fabric designers and manufacturers have responded to political upheaval from the French Revolution through Brexit.

Increasingly affordable textile production, due to the mechanisation of the industry in the mid 18th century, allowed for more detailed imagery on fabrics for both the body and home. Textile decoration became “democratised” facilitating governments, regimes and corporations to harness the power of print to communicate slogans and ideals. Learn how fabrics became a propaganda tool as well as a way for democracies to promote national identity through print design. On display will be textiles from French toile de Jouy to Japanese robes, Cultural Revolution Chinese fabrics and other worldwide textiles rarely before exhibited in the UK.