Westminster Menswear Archive: Preserving Menswear History and Advancing Fashion Research
Founded in 2016, the Westminster Menswear Archive is a leading collection of garments and artefacts, dedicated to advancing the study of menswear design. With a focus on technical and functional aspects, the archive informs contemporary menswear design and serves as a vital resource for students, researchers, and designers.
​
Our collection spans over 250 years, featuring garments from renowned designers like A-COLD-WALL*, Alexander McQueen, Burberry, C.P. Company, Issey Miyake, Prada, Stone Island, and Vivienne Westwood. The archive also houses significant utilitarian and uniform garments from the British Army, Royal Air Force, London Underground, and more.
Visit the Archive
The Westminster Menswear Archive is open by appointment to students, researchers, and industry professionals. Explore our extensive collection of over 3,000 garments, ranging from iconic designer pieces to rare examples of utilitarian and military clothing. Visits offer unique hands-on opportunities to examine garments up close, providing insight into design, construction, and innovation in menswear.
MASSIMO OSTI STUDIO
Since 2022, the Westminster Menswear Archive has been documenting the development of the Massimo Osti Studio. As part of this documentation, a sample of each production garment produced in the first year of the Massimo Osti Studio will be accessioned into the Westminster Menswear Archive.​
​
Following initial discussions between Lorenzo Osti and Professor Andrew Groves in March 2022, the Westminster Menswear Archive has been documenting the development of the Massimo Osti Studio and providing both historical and contemporary contextual research in relation to their activities.​
​
Traditionally, fashion museums normally only accession garments into their collections years after their date of production, so that their aesthetic, societal or critical value has already been established. However, as the processes of design, production, and consumption have radically changed in the last decade with the emergence of direct to consumer consumption and the rise of limited edition drops, this approach can mean that collections are unable to document the relationship of these processes to the final garments that are produced.
Umbro 100
Sportwear x Fashion
Over the last century, sportswear has evolved from its functional, athletic, and sporting roots to become the daily uniform for billions of people around the world. Founded in 1924, the British company Umbro has been central to this revolution.
Today collaborations between sportswear companies and fashion brands are the norm, but Umbro’s collaboration with Paul Smith in 2002 was the first to include a whole range of garments, including jackets, sweatshirts, polo shirts, t-shirts, as well as luggage, and leather accessories. It marked the beginning of this trend. Since then, Umbro has collaborated with over 60 different designers and brands. Since then, Umbro has collaborated with over 60 different designers and brands.
​​
Umbro 100 investigates how this relationship has evolved and its significance for both sportswear and fashion, using over 120 examples drawn exclusively from the Westminster Menswear Archive.
Designers featured in the exhibition include: Kim Jones, Aitor Throup, Aries, Palace, Paul Smith, Vetements, Supreme, ALMOSTBLACK, Bikkembergs, Eliminator, Philip Treacy, Slam Jam, Factory Records, FORESOMEONE, Peter Saville, Patta, Off-White, John Smedley, Nigel Cabourn, Christopher Raeburn, Rowing Blazers, NOWHERE FC, Gio Goi, Hanon, House of Holland, KANGHYUK, New Order, Numerals, Sweet Sktbs, R. Newbold, Pretty Green, and N.HOOLYWOOD.
​
Curated by Prof Andrew Groves and Dr Danielle Sprecher
Umbro 100: Sportswear x Fashion
12 April – 28 April 2024
Ambika P3, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 5LS
Free admission. Open 11am-7pm every day.
DONATIONS
Dr Samuel Ross Donation
PADDED POCKET RIBBED GILET
A-COLD-WALL*
A/W 2019
Black nylon gilet with a quilted and ribbed turtleneck and three padded nylon pockets. The gilet's front is composed primarily of padded and quilted nylon, with black rib panels on the upper right and lower left sides. Front centre zip closure in black, with a 6-inch placket covering the top of the closure. On the pocket's front is a white ACW* bracket logo printed sideways. Another attached pocket with a zip opening is located on the lower right side. The gilet's back is composed primarily of rib, with a panel of padded and quilted nylon on the left side, extending from the centre back to the outside edge and down to the upper waist. Attached to the lower back is a large asymmetrical bellow pocket with a large flap closure and an ACW* bracket logo printed in white on the pocket front. From the AW2019 collection, "BIRTH.ORGAN.SYNTH."
100% Nylon
Archive No. 2022.99.2
Donated by Dr Samuel Ross
June 2023
The concluding denouement of the Locating Menswear research series points to Italy’s role in shaping menswear’s industrialisation, and in turn, its international landscape.
Sites of countless luxury ateliers and manufacturing house’s, Italian production is the ultimate signifier of quality – the benchmark for the upper echelons of industry standard. Moreover, it’s the site of the second oldest global Fashion Week; the tailor’s nation for centuries; the home to generations of textile and silk merchants. As such, this rich genealogy has aided a global interconnectivity between Italian trade and talent. Further, one that has spread across continents, feeding into the hand of Italy’s status as a vanguard for menswear.​
“Menswear is the fastest growing sector in fashion, yet its history is in danger of being unwritten, with most fashion museums and collections focused solely on womenswear. The Westminster Menswear Archive is a pioneering institution, both for its world-class conservation and its commitment to telling the true story of menswear: it's past, present and future.”
Charlie Porter
NEWS
