A 400-year-old dress, a sunken chest, and a 17th-century mystery. This week, Travels with Textiles goes to the Dutch island of Texel, where divers hunting for treasure accidentally discovered a time capsule of textile history. Against all odds, a complete 1620s noblewoman's dress and Ottoman...
The new episode of Travels with Textiles explores the two thousand year old history of Chinese patchwork and looks at the stories of belief and protection wrapped up in these small pieces of fabric. We then travel back into the far past to understand how...
This episode of Travels with Textiles explores how fashion serves as a powerful act of resistance and a declaration of identity during times of conflict. We travel from the elegant, resilient residents of Odessa to the remarkable, creative recovery of a firebombed textile collection in...
Every year, the world creates 150 billion new garments and discards 92 million tonnes of textiles, making the fashion industry one of the largest contributors to climate change. In this episode of Travels with Textiles, recycling specialist and academic, Dr. Lisa McIntyre explains why the...
Ever wondered where knitting truly began? In this episode of Travels with Textiles, we dive into the history of a craft shared by over a hundred million people today. We trace knitting's journey from early North African knitting to the rugged islands of the North...
How do clothes change what we know about someone? In this episode of Travels with Textiles, we explore the hidden narratives woven into fabric. We sit down with Eleanor Houghton to uncover a surprising side of Charlotte Brontë, decode the social signals of Golden Age...
Deep in the mountains of Norway, a race against time is unfolding. As climate change thaws ancient snowfields, artifacts that haven’t seen the sun for millennia are suddenly appearing—from a 2,000-year-old tunic to the world’s only set of prehistoric skis. But once exposed, these treasures...
Most textile designers remain anonymous, yet their work is recognised around the world. This episode of Travels with Textiles uncovers the hidden histories of women designers behind the iconic prints of Liberty of London. It explores the ancient looping technique of Nälbinding that predates knitting...
It's been a good year for textile books and it maybe just my impression, but it seems that this year there are more textile titles as publishers realise that people really are interested. So it hasn't been easy to whittle down the selection to just...
What’s in a carpet? Discover the hidden histories woven into the world’s most coveted textiles. In this episode of Travels with Textiles, the historian, Dorothy Armstrong, discusses her new book Threads of Empire, revealing how carpets—from Japan to Romania and Siberia to the Sahara—became symbols...