Sprecher, Danielle and Groves, Andrew 2026. What We Got Wrong About Menswear: Ten Years of the Westminster Menswear Archive. What is Fashion? 2 - The Human in Fashion: Bodies, Labour, Care and Collective Life. University of Westminster 09 Oct 2026
| Title | What We Got Wrong About Menswear: Ten Years of the Westminster Menswear Archive |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sprecher, Danielle and Groves, Andrew |
| Type | Conference keynote |
| Abstract | The Westminster Menswear Archive was established in 2016 at the University of Westminster to support the teaching of fashion design and to address underrepresentation of menswear. At the time, the problem appeared to be one of absence. The collection now contains over 3,000 examples of menswear, ranging from sportswear and uniforms to industrial workwear, military clothing and designer fashion. Over the last decade, collecting this material has reinforced that the problem is not simply what is missing, but how menswear itself is understood. Its significance often lies not only in the garment, but in the systems in which it is produced, regulated, worn, and understood. Menswear has often been studied through existing frameworks and gender biases for fashion that privilege designer authorship, spectacle, aesthetics, and surface. Yet much of menswear is better understood through function, regulation, labour, belonging, and use. Drawing on ten years of research, collecting and exhibitions, this keynote asks what happens when we stop making menswear fit inherited frameworks and instead examine how it actually works. |
| Keywords | Menswear, fashion systems |
| Year | 2026 |
| Conference | What is Fashion? 2 - The Human in Fashion: Bodies, Labour, Care and Collective Life |
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