The Fashion and Textile Museum reveals a programme of events celebrating textile artists Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell
This summer, the Fashion and Textile Museum is making a case for staying indoors, with a season of immersive events, late-night openings and hands-on workshops centred on the vivid, boundary breaking world of design duo Collier Campbell. Consider your social calendar rearranged.
As much as I am a culture fanatic, I also have a chronic dopamine fixation and embarrassingly short attention span (shoutout TikTok), so going for a walk around a museum is about my favourite pastime for maybe half an hour before I crave something a little more stimulating (read: embarrassing) like AI fruit brainrot. Especially during the summer months when you could be soaking up the sun with a picnic (tinnies encouraged but not mandatory), it can be bittersweet letting those precious sun-drenched hours slip by spending time inside, especially since we aren’t particularly fortunate with the weather here in the Big Smoke. If you’re in a similar boat, allow me to introduce you to the Fashion and Design Museum’s summer events programme.
Accompanying the Paint! Pattern! Print! exhibition, running from March to September 2026, the museum has announced a number of interactive events to help you really soak up the work of artists and sisters Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell. The sisters were famed for their partnership work under Collier Campbell, which collaborated with big-name brands like Liberty’s and Jaeger, and even inspired Yves Saint Laurent’s first ever ready-to-wear collection (‘Libération’, for those wondering). Characterised by busy, brightly coloured prints mainly inspired by natural forms, the sisters’ work became legendary thanks to their control over the whole design process, meaning they were able to retain the rights to their designs; something unheard of by women during a time of economic recession.
The exhibition and accompanying events programme has been designed in collaboration with Sarah Campbell herself, who will be running many of them as an ambassador for the work of Collier and Campbell in memory of her late sister. The events themselves range from passive activities like curator talks to hands-on printing workshops where you can learn the art of printing from Campbell herself. The museum is also hosting some late-night visits on select Thursdays for victims of the 9-5 grind, or anyone who’d rather not spend their sunny weekends inside (although take it from us, spending a wholesome Sunday mooching round the exhibition is a little slice of heaven). See here for the full programme of events and more information about the exhibition itself.
Credits:
Images courtesy of Fashion and Textile Museum
Words: Cable Writers
