Curating Fashion and Dress

Professional development course

+44 (0)20 7942 2000

Spanning more than five centuries, the V&A’s Fashion collection is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world, and our critically acclaimed fashion exhibitions have attracted millions of visitors worldwide. This course is a unique opportunity for cultural professionals who are interested in harnessing the V&A’s extensive expertise to develop their own fashion and dress curation skills.

You’ll hear from specialist fashion curators and conservators as you delve behind-the-scenes and learn about collecting, conserving, displaying and exhibiting fashion and dress. You’ll learn the principles of storing and caring for textiles across multiple museum sites, and discover how collections are used to weave stories through exhibitions and displays. We will introduce you to the key debates around curating fashion in the modern museum as you develop your curatorial skills and engage your audiences with fashion and dress collections.

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Course Leader
Suzanne Smith

Suzanne Smith is a Museum & Heritage Consultant and Former Manager of the Clothworkers' Centre for the Study and Conservation of Textiles and Fashion. Suzanne specialises in fashion and textile collections management, preventive conservation and access. Suzanne worked for the V&A for 19 years and is now a Trustee of The Textile Society.

Superb insights, access to people and information that we otherwise wouldn’t have had. Just brilliant and inspirational! Previous Professional Development course attendee

Course overview

By the end of the course, the participants will have:

• developed their knowledge and skills in curating historical and contemporary fashion and dress
• learned how to ensure best practice is applied to their own fashion and dress collections
• gained an insight into contemporary considerations and debates around curating fashion and dress
• explored how fashion narratives are told through exhibitions, displays and public projects

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Professional development course: Curating Fashion and Dress

4 January 2024 - 8 February 2024

£360.00

Call to book +44 (0)20 7942 2000

Need help enrolling? Talk to the admissions team:

+44 (0)20 7942 2000

Open 10.00 - 13.00, Monday to Sunday (closed 24-26 December)

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