Exhibition in Leeds

The Synthetics Revolution: Man-made fibres and everyday fashion

Fiona Blair at the University of Leeds, in collaboration with ULITA—An Archive of International Textiles, the Yorkshire Fashion Archive and the Rethinking Textiles project, curated an exhibition on The Synthetics Revolution: man-made fibres and everyday fashion which ran from June to December 2016 in ULITA's dedicated exhibition space on the campus of the University of Leeds. Alongside the exhibition was a series of related public programmes that considered the relationship between locally produced fibres, everyday style and the global fashion system.

Drawing on two university archives, this exhibition explored the rise of the synthetic fibre in everyday clothing in the twentieth century, with particular reference to the Yorkshire region. It looked behind the scenes of the synthetics revolution with the aim of bringing the story of man-made fibres and how we interact with them to life ― from stories of technological developments in the early part of the twentieth century to the role of advertising following the Second World War.

This exhibition showcased the collections of the Yorkshire Fashion Archive and ULITA – an Archive of International Textiles, both of which are based in the University’s School of Design. It offered a glimpse into the range of items these two archives have in their collections and encouraged audiences to engage with them. It also advanced an Enterprise of Culture objective to pursue a research project on synthetics that will feed into a book by Blaszczyk down the road.

The exhibition engaged audiences in a number of ways. The main purpose of the collaboration was to introduce this aspect of the fashion industry to new audiences, in particular those who would perhaps be reluctant to attend an exhibition related to fashion. The exhibition therefore took a broad interdisciplinary approach to the topic, linking together themes including textiles, fashion, history, business, marketing, technology and colour chemistry.

The exhibition encouraged visitors to leave their memories of wearing clothes made from man-made fibres and these were added to the exhibition for others to read. A public programme of events included: handling sessions for staff and students across the university; talks on the stories behind the exhibition; lunchtime tours; an evening talk from Blaszczyk on Advertising the Synthetics Revolution; an outreach stall with family-friendly activities at a Macmillan Coffee Morning held at the Marks and Spencer Company Archive; engagement with university students as part of teaching; a schools engagement day; and participation in the Leeds Art Walk as a venue (which introduced new audiences from across the city).

The exhibition has attracted new interest in these two archival collections: one of the great successes of this collaborative project has been to introduce wider audiences to two important yet lesser-known resources on the university campus.