Current Exhibitions

Horrockses Fashions: Off the Peg Style in the '40s and '50s

9 July 2010 - 24 October 2010

Horrockses Fashions Limited was the manufacturer of one of the most well-respected ready-to-wear labels of the 1940s and 1950s.

The company are best known for their full-skirted dresses which were sought after by women everywhere and were even worn by Queen Elizabeth II. Although they were produced in considerable quantities from the start, the firm maintained an air of exclusivity for the brand, with an emphasis on good quality fabrics, especially cotton, with custom-designed patterns and fashion styling with Parisian couture overtones.

The colourful prints, particularly floral designs will provide a visual feast for visitors to the exhibition. The importance of fabric design on cotton was key to Horrockses Fashions' success; they acquired designs from a number of sources including in-house staff, commercial design studios, freelancers and also from well-known artists such as Graham Sutherland and Eduardo Paolozzi which were applied to the parent company's high quality cotton sheeting which was reserved exclusively for Horrockses Fashions. 

Curated by author and design historian Dr Christine Boydell, Principal Lecturer of Design History at De Montfort University.