A century of Textiles on Film

Since the end of the 19th century, film has been weaving an extraordinary visual record of our nation’s history. Much of it is preserved in the vast archival collections of the British Film Institute (BFI). Textiles on Film explores one of Britain’s richest industrial stories as captured by generations of filmmakers. Explore the fascinating timeline which takes you inside the Mills in Scotland, fashion week in London and back on the street with the Punks on King's Road. 

The Open Road, originally filmed in 1925-6, is a groundbreaking travelogue by colour cinematography pioneer Claude Friese-Greene, documenting life on the road from Land’s End to John O’Groats. He visited Kilbarchan, a village central to the weaving industry, capturing three generations of weavers in one scene.

By the time we reach the French capital in the 1930s, the style had evolved. Paris dominated the fashion scene, dropping its prices after the Wall Street Crash without sacrificing glamour.

The War might have been over, but the second half of the 1940s was all about belt-tightening. But some fashion-conscious ladies still craved a touch of glitter...

Aertex, a fabric that had been invented in the 1880s, was marketed with a campaign claiming that it was “cool when it’s hot, warm when it’s cold”. It was the subject of an advert by the short-lived in-house animation unit of cinema advertisers Pearl & Dean. Aertex still prospers and has been worn by figures as diverse as Bobby Moore and Kim Kardashian.

Kitsch abounds in fashion-forward promos from the 60s. In one particularly fabulous film, a woman dreams of a husband and home clothed entirely in Bri-Nylon. 

Take a trip into the kaleidoscopic world of 1960s fashion in Wake up to Wool (1967), where poodles and their glamorous owners sport matching outfits. Many films capture much more than surface detail, exposing the prevalent attitudes of the time, which might be eye-opening to some.

In 1971, magazine TV programme London Line took a glimpse at London Fashion Week through the eyes of Barbara, a Ghanaian student during her second year at the London College of Fashion and Clothing Technology.

Courtaulds, a major player in the textile industry, was confident it would continue to flourish in the 1970s, at a time when the Lancashire mills were closing at the rate of one a week. The mill proudly offered “jobs for everyone”, with extensive training and welfare provision. This was perhaps over-optimistic – as late as 1988, Courtaulds still had 30 mills operating, but these were eventually sold as textile manufacturing moved abroad.

ICI (Imperial Chemical Industries) followed American Dupont in their discovery of Nylon and in the 1940s perfected lisle, a unique thread, which once turned into garments could hold its shape without the need for ironing. Hugely famous in the 1960s, it became a staple for the whole family until slowly falling out of fashion in the 1970s. This might explain why, by 1975, ICI were striving to find new markets for their product, such as children’s school wear.

Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s legendary shop at 430 Kings Road led the way in shaping fashion durning the punk era. By 1978 the shop was already in its fourth incarnation, Seditionaries, its anonymous exterior a contrast to precursor SEX and the crooked shopfront of World’s End, which came later and is still open today.

Early 90s London gets a vibrant dose of African culture in Ian Watts’ mini-odyssey fusing dance, music and fashion. We join a young black couple who, embracing their African heritage, search Brixton market for traditional wedding clothes.