Curatorial Threads offers insights into the evolving practices of fashion curation, exploring intersections between menswear, exhibition design, and cultural narratives. It integrates the complexities of showcasing fashion within museum contexts, while also addressing broader themes in contemporary fashion and archival work. It serves as a platform for scholarly reflection and professional commentary on menswear, curation, and the fashion industry.
Exciting to see our book, "Inside the Westminster Menswear Archive," available in some of the most iconic bookshops around London—Foyles, Waterstones, and Hatchards.
Whether you're exploring the fascinating history of menswear or discovering the hidden stories behind some of fashion’s most influential garments, this book offers an in-depth look at the Westminster Menswear Archive's collection.
Have you spotted it in-store yet?
This week, I spoke with Jacob Gallagher at The New York Times to share my thoughts on Mark Zuckerberg’s latest venture into T-shirt design. His range of shirts, developed in collaboration with Mike Amiri, immediately presents two key design elements: the garment itself and the print. What sets these shirts apart from a typical $10 tee is the attention to materiality, cut, construction, and silhouette. The drop shoulder, oversized fit, and extended sleeves elevate them into statement pieces—garments designed to provoke reactions, whether positive or negative. Then there’s the print, which could easily have fallen into the realm of frat-boy humour but instead becomes something more considered, thanks to a raised tonal puff print that crosses both the body and sleeve seams. This level of detail transforms the shirts from simple clothing into carefully crafted pieces.
Where these shirts differ from your standard T-shirt is in the materiality, cut, construction, and silhouette, all of which are far more thoughtful and deliberate. The drop shoulder, oversized fit, and longer sleeves transform the garment into a statement piece – it’s why people, for better or worse, are commenting on it. The print, too, plays a significant role, elevating what could’ve easily been a frat-boy joke into something more sophisticated with a slightly raised tonal puff print that crosses the seams of the body and sleeves. This attention to detail takes the shirt from being a basic garment to a thoughtfully designed piece.
In terms of whether these are well-designed shirts, my response is yes, they are. Whether you’re designing a Savile Row suit or a humble T-shirt, the principles of design—materials, construction, and fit—remain constant. You might find these principles in a cheaper tee, but it’s less likely when the design is driven purely by price-point economics. These shirts reflect a more thoughtful approach, even though they are still casual wear. If I were to tweak anything, I might adjust the fit of the neck slightly – curving it lower at the front for a refined look.
Some people have commented that the text on these tees is hard to read. But, as I see it, that’s not necessarily a flaw. The text is in Latin, so clarity was never going to be a priority. The humour lies in its cryptic, almost pretentious nature, and the choice of font and colour only adds to the joke. The fact that people are squinting at the shirt to decipher it is part of its fun. Sometimes, being hard to read can be one of a design’s strongest features.
Lastly, the idea of a notable figure like Zuckerberg getting involved in designing clothes may seem surprising to some. However, it’s important to remember that this is more of a collaboration with Mike Amiri. If they’re discussing shapes, fabrics, and colours, it’s not far off from what happens between a Savile Row tailor and their client. The difference here is that, instead of a bespoke suit, we’re talking about T-shirts—perhaps the most democratic garment of the 21st century.
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I recently came across this interview with Christopher Bailey from 2009 when we interviewed him for our graduate magazine.
Christopher Bailey graduated from Westminster in 1993. As Creative Director of Burberry, he is responsible for the design of all product lines as well as the definition of the company’s overall image and the concept for seasonal advertising. In October 2005, he was awarded ‘Designer of the Year’ at the British Fashion Awards. In November 2006 Christopher was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Westminster. He was born in Yorkshire.
What was the most useful thing you learned from the Fashion Design course at the University of Westminster?
Learning the basic understanding of the craft of making clothes, and also understanding the importance of expressing your point of view, of having a vision, sticking with that vision and believing in it. Any good course should empower you to believe in yourself and your abilities.
What do you wish you’d learned more about at university?
I’ve always been a realist and I believe university can only teach you so much. It should be a skeleton, a framework, and then you go into industry and learn how to put the meat on that skeleton. Industry experience is very important throughout the coursework because it anchors you back into reality. Putting into work what you have been taught is quite a different thing when you go into industry. But there’s no way of teaching that, you have to learn it with experience. Even if you are in the environment picking up pins, you are learning. You shouldn’t expect too much when you go into an internship; just being there can be enriching and inspiring.
What have been the most important lessons you have learned as a person and as a designer at Donna Karan, Gucci, and at Burberry?
At Donna Karan I learned to understand the US market, about a very big corporate environment and how you need to operate within that. At Gucci it was to have a vision and a point of view, and then stick with it, hammer it, and do it to the best of your ability. At Burberry it has been learning how to multi-task and how to manage completely different projects all within one hour!
What are the key elements of your role now?
Designing and the creative role is hugely important, but being creative with people and getting them to open up and to speak with one voice, that’s often just as important. The workload is phenomenal and managing that, managing people and inspiring them, exciting them, keeping them motivated and passionate… that’s half of my job.
What’s been the best ever moment in your career?
The best moment for me is when I hear my team all working together; the music is on, it’s 7pm, they’re having a laugh and producing extraordinary work. That makes me really proud.
What’s the worst moment?
I am fortunate I am doing something I enjoy; I am an optimist and I always see the glass half full. Even when something maybe hasn’t worked out I look on it as a learning experience. But I suppose really the worst moments are looking at my calendar and realising that I don’t have even just a minute to think.
What does motivate you?
I’m not driven by material things at all. That’s not to say it’s unimportant or that I’m not aware of my worth within a market, but it’s not what drives me. I’ve never been driven to take a job, or into a situation, for materialistic or financial reasons. It’s been more about the experience.
And what’s the worst thing?
With any success you have to relinquish something, and unfortunately that’s often your free time, your personal time with your family and close friends. Do I wish I could spend more time with them? – yes I absolutely do. But you can’t have everything.
What do you do to relax?
I go to Yorkshire, it’s where I’m from, my family lives there and I have a house in a tiny village near to Halifax. It’s kind of where my soul is; it’s a very spiritual home for me as well as a physical home. When I’m there I like to be in the garden, and I read a lot. I love biographies/
autobiographies – one of my favourites is Marianne Faithfull’s ‘Faithless’. I’ll sit on the grass and read… that’s a pretty good Saturday afternoon.
What advice would you give to Fashion Design students graduating this year?
Be open, be friendly, work as hard as you possibly can, go into every experience wanting to learn from it, make the most out of every situation. Never think you’ve made it, never think you know everything… because no matter how many years’ experience you’ve never learned actually very much. That’s the biggest thing for me that I realise every day.
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would it be?
Thomas Burberry, he was a genius.
Does your mother play golf ?
She certainly does not.