Archiving Fashion and Textiles: Celebrating 30 Years

RMIT University's Fashion and Textile Archive was established in 1994 and is now recognised as a nationally significant collection for its historic value, aesthetic interest, and research potential. While the RMIT Design Archives textile archives reflect the changes which took place in the practice of textile design in Australia, from an essentially craft-based activity to a design profession over the course of the 20th century, and the fashion archives document the development of the fashion industry in Melbourne and nationally from the pre-Second World War to the 21st century.

In this collection viewing and talk visitors will have the opportunity to view selected highlights from the RMIT Design Archives. The display will include textiles, fashion, photographs and ephemera drawn from the archives of Prue Acton, Frances Burke, the Fashion Design Council, Prestige Fabrics (Gerard Herbst), Rae Ganim, Ailsa Graham Art Fabrics, Robert Maltus, Michael O’Connell, Hall Ludlow, Bee Taplin and Diane Masters. The guest speaker, Dr. Tarryn Handcock, RMIT Senior Lecturer and Program Manager for RMIT University's Bachelor of Fashion (Design), will focus on the relevance of these collections today to emerging fashion designers.