Invisible Men: An Insight into the Westminster Menswear Archive
Copywriting | Interviewing | Content Ideation
Marking the largest menswear collection to date – Invisible Men is an anthology of menswear artefacts drawn from the expansive Westminster Menswear Archive.
Arranged into twelve sections, it represents designer garments alongside military, functional, and utilitarian outfits. By doing so, the exhibition explores the designer language of menswear, focusing on the replication of functional garments intended for specific industrial, technical or military use.
Set in Westminster University’s Ambika P3 space and put together by their very own Professor Andrew Groves. The collection is a representation and education into menswear; a teaching tool for students to support their design practice and to inspire knowledge around the subject, its history, materiality and social meaning.
Once a design assistant for Alexander McQueen, Professor Andrew Groves says, “We are beginning to now tell the untold story of menswear”, a view that is cemented in his position of Professor of Fashion Design and has been since the beginning of his days scouring eBay for items that would eventually make up this archive.
Starting the Westminster Menswear Archive in 2016 was born out of frustration. Students and designers in the industry were unable to see historically important examples of menswear, an idea which saw the marginalisation of menswear and how it is significantly underrepresented in comparison to its female counterpart.
Opening up to the public for four weeks, Invisible Men exhibits over 170 pieces from an archive made up of 1700 artefacts. This is only a snapshot of the archive and a belief that people will leave the exhibition having seen something unexpected. It is not a portrayal of the best designs from the archive - but an equally valid reminder that the curators have communicated that menswear shouldn’t be put on a pedestal, but somewhat celebrate the diverse mix of designer and non-designer garments that are on offer.