Westminster Menswear Archive loan to Barbican Exhibition Dirty Looks

Image shows Carol Christian Poell Flocked Jacket (2019.52) against material background.

The Westminster Menswear Archive has loaned a rare Carol Christian Poell jacket to the Barbican’s forthcoming exhibition Dirty Looks: Desire and Decay in Fashion, which runs from 25 September 2025 to 25 January 2026.

The jacket, from Poell’s Autumn Winter 2002 collection Attraction, exemplifies his experimental approach to material innovation and construction. Although it appears heavily worn, the effect was deliberately created using a flocking process applied after the garment was completed. This technique involved adhering negatively charged fibre particles to glued areas of the surface using a high-voltage electric field, producing areas that look abraded or threadbare.

Professor Andrew Groves, Director of the Westminster Menswear Archive, said:“Carol Christian Poell’s work often challenges conventional ideas of wear, damage, and decay. This jacket questions what it means for a garment to appear aged, undermining our assumptions about value and use in fashion.”

Curated by Karen Van Godtsenhoven and Jon Astbury, Dirty Looks examines how fashion has embraced imperfection, dirt, and decay as sources of creativity and meaning. The exhibition will feature work by over 60 designers, including Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan, Maison Margiela, IAMISIGO, and Paolo Carzana.

For further details, visit the Barbican website: Dirty Looks.