London’s Jewish Communities Highlighted at the Fashion Exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands

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To celebrate the fact that Jewish Londoners have been operating in many different segments of the industry, Dr. Lucie Whitmore introduced the Fashion City opened at the Museum of London Docklands to look at the impact of those who arrived in britain had in revolutionising the industry in everything from tailoring to retail. 

An exhibition looking at how migrants helped turn the UK’s capital into a world fashion centre is an “important lens into London’s Jewish communities”, its lead curator says.

Dr. Lucie explained how the capital’s garment business was “a really, really big story for people whose heritage is Jewish London, considering the fact that the exhibition was opening at a troubling time in the middle east. 

Between the last two decades of the 19th Century and the mid-20th Century, some 200,000 Jewish people arrived in Britain, many with design and clothes-making skills. 

“In the exhibition we look at the importance of portable trades, so this idea that you can move with your business, you’ve always got of working and earning a living,” Dr Whitmore explains.

“Sadly, the reality for Jewish people throughout a lot of history is that they had to move for safety, and having a portable skill is very good; you can set up and start making a living for yourself quite quickly.”

60% of the Jews who arrived in London have known to end up working in the fashion industry. Majority of them have settled in the East end, while the exhibiton covers both, those who became celebrated for their creations, as well as others who struggled to make a living.

“There are just so many Jewish people working in the tailoring trade in the late 19th and early 20th Century in particular that you can’t look beyond that trade without acknowledging how important those people were in making it,” says Dr Whitmore.

“It was often Jewish designers and retailers and business owners who really innovated and revolutionised the way clothing was made and bought and experienced.”

BBC News London, has posted on their wall a detailed report of the same.