Foale and Tuffin | Fashion Exhibition

by Emma Bower

The ‘60s are renowned for the birth of young fashion, but while the likes of Biba, Twiggy and Mary Quant remain household names, Foale and Tuffin are a little less familiar.

The design duo of Marion Foale and Sally Tuffin also contributed to the ‘Youthquake’ movement of the decade, the creation of fun, spirited and youthful fashion.

London’s Fashion and Textile Museum is putting the record straight and presenting Foale and Tuffin: Made in England, a display of their original garments, sketches and illustrations.

After graduating from the Royal College of Art, the pair decided, with only £200 to their names, to open a new shop aimed at a younger clientele.

The exhibition celebrates their work from college days to fashion front-runners.

On entering the exhibition, hearing is the first sense transported to the ‘60s with popular music filling the space.

Tunes such as I Want to Hold Your Hand by The Beatles accompany video footage projected on the walls.

Eveningwear and sportswear is intertwined with the iconic shift dress, which sporadically appears among the array of garments.

Lack of information

The clothes are displayed at all levels with items hanging overhead on carefully positioned props indicative of the era.

To my disappointment, not all of the clothing, including one of my favourite designs (a black quilted jacket with ‘Suzie’ embellished on the back), had a description plaque for information, leaving the viewer not completely informed about the world of Foale and Tuffin.

The fresh faces of teenage models and icons such as Twiggy stare back from the walls plastered with covers from fashion magazines including Vogue.

But clothing isn’t the only thing on display.

You will find Foale and Tuffin Christmas cards, coursework from their college days, even a Sindy doll sporting a Foale and Tuffin ski outfit.

My favourite exhibit was Lace Dress, a high-necked gold lace mini-dress with long cuffed sleeves.

Passion Killers

One of the more interesting features of the exhibition was gaining an insight as to where the designers found inspiration for specific garments.

A piece called Geoff’s Jacket, for example, was inspired by a jacket owned by Foale’s boyfriend at the time.

Rather more amusingly, the Passion Killers shorts were based on Tuffin’s school gym shorts.

The upstairs focuses more on the design and manufacture of the garments with an abundance of hand-crafted pattern pieces, fabric swatches, working drawings and the tools that were used to make the clothing.

Culminating with their latest individual work that does not touch the excitement of their earlier designs, the exhibition ends on a bit of an anti-climax and leaves you pining for the optimism of the ‘60s.

Foale and Tuffin: Made in England at the Fashion and Textile Museum ends February 24.

Tickets are £3.50 for students and £6.50 for adults.

 

 

---

Fashion and Textile Museum

83 Bermondsey Street

London

SE1 3XF

0871 432 6786