From mop-topped mods to King’s Road anarchists, subculture is in London’s DNA. The relaunch of Contemporary Wardrobe, the leading archive of UK street fashion, is a reminder of the city’s youth-led legacy. The collection was established in 1978 by the late curator, costume designer and stylist Roger K Burton and now encompasses 20,000 garments spanning from 1945 to the present day. Its refurbishment and relaunch following Burton’s passing in 2025 lives up to Burton’s belief that the space be “more than a museum; the clothes need to live”, says costume designer and lead archivist Kate Forbes.
Situated in The Horse Hospital, a formerly derelict stables-turned-arts centre behind Russell Square, the refurbished Contemporary Wardrobe now includes both an events space and a bookable on-site research facility for use by professionals and students alike. Visits can easily lead to getting lost between the hangers: a technicolour spread of clothes fills the space wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling.
As Forbes says, the collection is both “a reflection of Roger’s incredible eclecticism and love of subculture” and “an incredibly important part of British postwar history”. Each of the thousands of items stored here possesses an individual story. Burton himself drew from the archive to style cult-classic films such as mod classic Quadrophenia (1979) and techy crime thriller Hackers (1995). The collection has dressed the likes of David Bowie, The Rolling Stones and Annie Lennox – and designers including Tom Ford and Alexander McQueen are among its past clients.
The relaunch incorporates a display of pieces chosen by contemporary London-based supporters, from stylist Harry Lambert (best known for dressing Harry Styles) to photographer Rachel Fleminger Hudson. “When we asked people to pick one piece from the collection, they really struggled,” Forbes says. “For me, it would be impossible.”
One of Forbes’s personal highlights is an individual collection belonging to the French/Hawaiian/Chinese restaurateur Michael Hochong, who ran the Knightsbridge institute Michael’s in the ’70s. Much of his extravagant wardrobe was designed by the film costumier Germinal Rangel (The Darjeeling Limited, Death and the Maiden), and a quick scan of his section of the archive reveals a selection of leather hotpants, rhinestone-encrusted lamé and brightly coloured kimonos.
Other favourites include an apple-green pinstripe skirt-suit with a kirby grip fringe created by Leigh Bowery in the ’80s, a Charles Manson T-shirt from Hackers, and an ’80s blonde hair-adorned tank top by British fashion iconoclasts Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood.
Though appointments to browse Contemporary Wardrobe’s treasure-laden rails will open imminently, the work of disseminating Burton’s life work is not finished. The next step, Forbes says, will be digitising the entirety of the archive, a task being tackled alongside students from the nearby Central Saint Martins. It will not be an easy job, but it will be worth it. “Working class and youth movements have historically been overlooked, and continue to be in other collections,” Forbes says. “There isn’t anywhere else quite like this.”
Contemporary Wardrobe
The Horse Hospital, Herbrand Street, WC1N 1JD
Hours
By appointment only
