The internationally important Fashion Museum Bath will be moving to a new location at the Old Post Office in the centre of Bath. It will also create a new Fashion Collection Archive in Locksbrook, to the west of the city centre, to house the collection. The aim is for the Museum and Fashion Collection Archive to open in three to eight years time, dependent on fundraising.
To help deliver the project, Bath & North East Somerset Council has submitted a £20 million bid the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund, to help complete the £37 million project. The project will boost the visitor economy of the region and create jobs and opportunities for local and regional people. The council has also received a £2.4 million grant from the West of England Combined Authority, which will contribute towards the regeneration of the Milsom Quarter, including the opening of the new Fashion Museum.
Councillor Kevin Guy, Leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council, commented, “Located in the heart of Bath, the Old Post Office presents us with a unique opportunity to create one of the world’s great museums of fashion. It will be more accessible, engage with a wider range of people, tell a greater range of stories than we’ve ever been able to do before and will help to boost surrounding businesses.
“The relocation of the Fashion Museum to the Old Post Office forms part of our wider Milsom Quarter Masterplan, an ambitious 20-year vision to transform the Milsom Quarter area of Bath into a fashion destination for the South-West, attracting creative industries to the area, relocating the Fashion Museum and providing 180 new homes.
“The project will not only provide a home for this internationally important collection but will also provide strong benefit to the local area. Together, the new Museum and Fashion Collection Archive will increase visits and overnight stays to the area – boosting the visitor economy and employment and helping to catalyse the regeneration of an area of the city centre hard hit by covid. It will provide upskilling and reskilling opportunities to local communities and increase access to, and use of, one of the world’s leading museum collections of fashionable dress for education, creative industries and members of the public. It will also provide cultural engagement opportunities to local audiences who have traditionally not visited the Fashion Museum.”
As well as the new Museum location, the Council will open a purpose-built Fashion Collection Archive in the Bath Spa University Creative Arts Quarter in Locksbrook (an area to the west of the city centre of Bath). This will provide a home for the collection and a place where displays for the city centre Museum will be prepared. This building will be accessible to all (including the public, filmmakers, and industry specialists), who will have the opportunity to interact with the wider collection through special events, activities and study sessions. The Museum is partnering with Bath Spa University on this new project, which will open in the next three to five years.