In July 2017 I worked on an exhibition with Judith Clark, Professor of Fashion and Museology, UAL, and Professor Carol Tulloch, Professor of Dress, Diaspora and Transnationalism, UAL, on the installation for Jamaican designer-artist Jessica Ogden.

The exhibition entitled ‘Still’ was a celebration of Jessica Ogden’s work and drew on her extensive archive.

The exhibition was held in a disused retail shop in London, which reflected her design philosophy of re-use and re-purposing of textiles, garments and material fragments.

The aim of the exhibition was a pause for reflection and an opportunity to create a conversation about her work in the context of time, history and the future.

Jessica established her London-based fashion label in 1993, which produced until 2006.

The clothes combined references to her birthplace and homeland of Jamaica, for example the intense colours of the landscape such as the vibrant hibiscus flowers.

The underlying narrative of Jessica’s work draws on the clothes worn by the working class women from Jamaica ¹⁾Tulloch, C. (2017) Jessica Ogden: Still, London: UAL..

The clothes were crafted through patchwork and embellished with stitching, where the unique imprint of the stitcher is present (Tulloch, 2017). This aspect of her work was evident in the exhibition.

A long trestle table was positioned by the window and laid out with a length of fabric, on which visitors were encouraged to embroider a symbol or message.

The exhibition was very accessible with garments displayed on mannequins, on tables, in shelving units and on a giant display book attached to the wall.

Workshops were provided encouraging further interaction with visitors.