LONDON – Burberry is making big moves on the arts and culture front with plans to refurbish the Fashion Gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington as part of a multi-year partnership.
The Fashion Gallery will close on May 4 and reopen in spring 2027 after a much-needed overhaul. From then, it will be known as The Burberry Gallery.
According to Burberry, the plan is to create a “participatory space” aimed at enhancing visitors’ experience of the V&A’s extensive fashion collection.
There are also plans for a wide-ranging activity program onsite, offline and online, with the aim of offering a “world-class learning experience and greater access to fashion education” for all.
The Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington, London.
Peter Kelleher
Burberry chief executive officer Joshua Schulman described the partnership as a “milestone moment for British arts and culture. We are so thrilled to come together with the V&A team to celebrate the rich history of fashion, and to develop an immersive space that will inspire creative minds for generations to come.”
The V&A Fashion Gallery was last structurally redeveloped in 1962, and remains one of the most visited and largest dedicated permanent gallery spaces at the South Kensington site, according to the museum.
The V&A has 39 works related to Burberry, made between 1908 and 2014, and has displayed the brand’s items previously as part of several exhibitions, including “Fashioned from Nature,” “Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear” and, more recently, “Naomi: In Fashion.”
Burberry is already a corporate patron of the V&A, alongside companies such as Bloomberg, Van Cleef & Arpels, HSBC UK and Rothschild & Co.
The Fashion Gallery at the V&A in London.
Peter Kelleher
The museum said that when the gallery reopens in 2027, it will continue to display a significant fashion collection spanning five centuries with designs from a multitude of brands and individuals.
The collection serves as an important resource for students, historians, designers, and anyone conducting fashion and textile research. Access to the collection will be available at the V&A East Storehouse as of May 31, and online at vam.ac.uk.
Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A, said the partnership between Burberry and the museum was a natural one.
“Founded in the same decade, V&A and Burberry have been pillars of British fashion” for more than for over 150 years,” Hunt said.
“We share a commitment to ensuring our proud heritage inspires the next generation of creatives. This partnership allows us to share the V&A’s incredible collections in new and accessible ways and support education and craftsmanship across the country,” alongside Burberry, he added.
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Burberry has supported arts and culture institutions in the past, partnering with the British Pavilion for La Biennale di Venezia and the Royal Academy for the Thomas Burberry Prize.
Since Schulman arrived last year, the brand has been embracing British culture with in-store exhibitions, and ad campaigns starring some of the country’s best-known actors such as Kate Winslet, Olivia Colman, and Richard E. Grant.
As reported last year, Burberry held temporary exhibitions of archive outerwear pieces. At the Regent Street London store, replicas of Burberry’s designs for Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated 1914 polar expedition were on display.
At Burberry’s newly-refurbished 57th Street flagship in New York, weatherproof gabardine pieces went on show as part of a wider display of archive outerwear pieces in key stores.
Burberry’s replica of the lightweight gabardine outfit that Sir Ernest Shackleton wore, on display at the Regent Street store in London last year.
Courtesy
