PP MFF FASHION CULTURE PROGRAM 2023 | ART FOR ART’S SAKE: Aesthetic dress at Liberty & Co with Nicole Jenkins

When the Victorian Aestheticism movement – which valued sensuality over practicality – was adopted up by Arthur Lasenby Liberty in his West End department store in the 1880s, it resulted in the perfect combination of beauty, high quality, and exoticism.

The new costume department featured embellished and printed silks and velvets to rival Paris, but the gowns were in Pre-Raphaelite styles inspired by the Middle Ages and were significantly less restrictive than the corseted fashion of the day.

NICOLE JENKINS is a fashion historian and author, who collects Australian fashion. She has a Master’s degree in cultural heritage. Her first book Love Vintage was awarded a bronze medal in the Independent Publisher Book Awards and her second book Style is Eternal is available through Melbourne University Publishing.

This lecture is presented as part of the PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival’s FASHION CULTURE PROGRAM by TJC.

This lecture is presented ON-SITE at TJC. Please see your ticket for details.

This lecture is supported by The Colin Holden Charitable Trust.

image | tea gown, England, 1895-1900, silk velvet, embroidered with coloured silks, collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, T.202-1962, given by H R Tomalin