Fashion History Museum is a museum in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, which chronicles the history of fashion. It was founded in 2004 [1] by Jonathan Walford and Kenn Norman. [2] The museum is a non-profit charitable organization. [3]
Prior to founding the Fashion History Museum, Jonathan Walford had been the founding curator of the Bata Shoe Museum. [2] [4] Walford has been collecting historical fashions since the 1970s, finding pieces from auction houses, garage sales, and even rescuing some items from the trash. [2] He has also written several books on fashion. [5]
Walford is currently the museum's Director/Curator. The museum's other founder, Kenn Norman, who serves as the Chair of the museum's board, has a background in finance, project management and design. [3] [5]
For the first ten years of its existence the museum lacked a permanent gallery, so it created exhibitions that travelled around Canada and the world, from Hong Kong to Bahrain. [6] A pilot gallery in a mall [5] in Cambridge Ontario, in 2013 saw almost 8000 visitors in the four and a half months the museum was open there. [7]
In June 2015 the museum opened in a 3,000 square foot decommissioned post-office that had been opened in 1929 [8] in the former town of Hespeler, now a neighbourhood of Cambridge. [4] [3] The museum retained and restored the original terrazzo floors and installed replicas of antique light fixtures for lighting. [8] A restoration project for the clock over the museum's front doors was funded by the public. [9] The town of Cambridge was once a textile manufacturing hub, making the museum a suitable fit with the town's history. [3]
The museum's collection encompasses over 10,000 items. [4] These items range from what may be the oldest existing European shoe worn in North America (it was reputedly worn in New Amsterdam and dates to about 1660), [2] to dresses by Hollywood designer Adrian (Adolph Greenberg) [4] to 1970s handbags made from cigarette packs. [6]
Before establishing the current gallery space, the museum created travelling exhibitions and pop-up shows.
The present gallery space opened June 27 with the following exhibitions: [2]
Fashion History Museum is a museum in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, which chronicles the history of fashion. It was founded in 2004 [1] by Jonathan Walford and Kenn Norman. [2] The museum is a non-profit charitable organization. [3]
Prior to founding the Fashion History Museum, Jonathan Walford had been the founding curator of the Bata Shoe Museum. [2] [4] Walford has been collecting historical fashions since the 1970s, finding pieces from auction houses, garage sales, and even rescuing some items from the trash. [2] He has also written several books on fashion. [5]
Walford is currently the museum's Director/Curator. The museum's other founder, Kenn Norman, who serves as the Chair of the museum's board, has a background in finance, project management and design. [3] [5]
For the first ten years of its existence the museum lacked a permanent gallery, so it created exhibitions that travelled around Canada and the world, from Hong Kong to Bahrain. [6] A pilot gallery in a mall [5] in Cambridge Ontario, in 2013 saw almost 8000 visitors in the four and a half months the museum was open there. [7]
In June 2015 the museum opened in a 3,000 square foot decommissioned post-office that had been opened in 1929 [8] in the former town of Hespeler, now a neighbourhood of Cambridge. [4] [3] The museum retained and restored the original terrazzo floors and installed replicas of antique light fixtures for lighting. [8] A restoration project for the clock over the museum's front doors was funded by the public. [9] The town of Cambridge was once a textile manufacturing hub, making the museum a suitable fit with the town's history. [3]
The museum's collection encompasses over 10,000 items. [4] These items range from what may be the oldest existing European shoe worn in North America (it was reputedly worn in New Amsterdam and dates to about 1660), [2] to dresses by Hollywood designer Adrian (Adolph Greenberg) [4] to 1970s handbags made from cigarette packs. [6]
Before establishing the current gallery space, the museum created travelling exhibitions and pop-up shows.
The present gallery space opened June 27 with the following exhibitions: [2]