Description
Purchase An Unbroken Thread – Celebrating 150 Years of the Royal School of Needlework and 150 Years of the Royal School of Needlework: Crown to Catwalk Exhibition Catalogue together at a special discounted price of £38 (usually £41 if purchased separately).
An Unbroken Thread – Celebrating 150 Years of the Royal School of Needlework, by Susan Kay-Williams.
Published to coincide with the Royal School of Needlework’s 150th anniversary, covering the remarkable history of the RSN from inception to the present day.
Many initiatives to support women were begun in the late 1800s, but the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) is one of the few that remain. This initiative was born from the desire of three women – Princess Helena, Lady Victoria Welby and Lady Marian Alford – to popularise the lost art of ornamental needlework and place it on a par with other decorative arts, such as painting and sculpture. Their other, yet no less important goal was to provide employment for women compelled to earn their own livelihood. Though women are no longer so limited in occupational options, the RSN has been keeping traditional embroidery techniques alive for a century and a half.
This book will tell the story of the RSN from its founding in 1872 to the current day. It will highlight key people, royal and other special commissions, the changing fortunes of the school as fashions changed and the approach to teaching hand embroidery, as well as bringing attention to the role and position of the RSN historically and today, associating with everyone from society ladies and theatre impresarios in the late 19th century to working with fashion designers Patrick Grant, Nicholas Oakwell and Alexander McQueen, and architects in the 21st century.
150 Years of the Royal School of Needlework: Crown to Catwalk Exhibition Catalogue
Illustrated catalogue to accompany the exhibition celebrating 150 years of the Royal School of Needlework which is taking place at the Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey, London from 01 April 2022. Illustrated with images from the exhibition with text written by Dr Susan Kay-Williams, CE of the RSN.