Fashion History Museum

Prior to founding the Fashion History Museum, Jonathan Walford had been the founding curator of the Bata Shoe Museum.[2][4] Walford has been collecting historical fashions since the 1970s, finding pieces from auction houses, garage sales, and even rescuing some items from the trash.[2] He has also written several books on fashion.[5]

Walford is currently the museum's Director/Curator. The museum's other founder, Kenn Norman, who serves as the Chair of the museum's board, has a background in finance, project management and design.[3][5]

For the first ten years of its existence the museum lacked a permanent gallery, so it created exhibitions that travelled around Canada and the world, from Hong Kong to Bahrain.[6] A pilot gallery in a mall [5] in Cambridge Ontario, in 2013 saw almost 8000 visitors in the four and a half months the museum was open there.[7]

In June 2015 the museum opened in a 3,000 square foot decommissioned post-office that had been opened in 1929[8] in the former town of Hespeler, now a neighbourhood of Cambridge.[4][3] The museum retained and restored the original terrazzo floors and installed replicas of antique light fixtures for lighting.[8] A restoration project for the clock over the museum's front doors was funded by the public.[9] The town of Cambridge was once a textile manufacturing hub, making the museum a suitable fit with the town's history.[3]

• Open Drawers (Collection highlights) - Guelph Civic Museum, August 15–30
• Talkin' Bout My Generation (1960s fashion) - Waterloo Region Children's Museum, June–September
• Everyday Wear (Daywear fashions 1820 - 1920) - Ball's Falls Centre for Conservation, November 2009 - January 2010

• The Towering Art of the Shoe (high heeled shoes 1780 - 1980) - New Town Plaza, Sha Tin, China, May 2010

• Nuclear Fashion (fashion advertising 1946 - 1964) - Waterloo City Museum, May–September
• Winter Sports (fashions for sport 1880 - 1930) - Ball's Falls Centre for Conservation, December

• 12.12.12 Life in Three Centuries - Guelph Museum, January 21 - March 10
• A Shoe Story (shoes 1780 - 1980) - Manama Mall, Bahrain, May 23 - June 16
• 12.12.12 Life in Three Centuries - Markham Museum, September 22 - April 30, 2013
• Nuclear Fashion (fashion advertising 1946 - 1964) - Burlington Mueum, October - December
• Action! Sport, Film & Fashion - Grand River Film Festival, Cambridge, October 16–20

• Paisley and Plaid: Recurring Patterns in Fashion - Southworks, Cambridge, July 27 - November 30
• Fashion for the Future: Acquisitions from the new millennium - Southworks, Cambridge, July 27 - September 15
• It's in the Bag: An Anthology of Purse Styles - Southworks, Cambridge, July 27 - December 22
• Open Drawers: Recent acquisitions - Southworks, Cambridge, September 20 - December 22
• MODe: Fashions of the 1960s - Southworks, Cambridge, December 5–22

• Street Style: Fashions in Waterloo County 1853 - 1973 - Waterloo Region Museum, May 15 - January 10, 2015

The present gallery space opened June 27 with the following exhibitions:[2]

• Treasures from the Collection[8]
• Back to the Eighties[8]
• What to do with an old post office?[8]
• Punks and Posers: 1980s Portraits from New York and London[8]

Image of the Treasures from the Collection exhibit

• To Meet the Queen: What to Wear in the Presence of Royalty[10]
• A Canadian Fashion Story: Pat McDonagh 1967–2014[10]
• Throw me something, Sister? Muses, Mardi Gras, and Glittered Shoes, curated by Angela Brayham[11][10]
• Barbie's Boyfriend Ken: The Vintage Years 1961–1967, curated by James Fowler[12]
• What I did on my Summer Vacation: Photographs by Walter Segers [12]
• Tying the Knot: 200 Years of Wedding Attire[13][10]
• Brides Revisited: Wedding Photography 1870–1970
• Wild and Rare: Fashion and Endangered Species, curated by Lisa Cox[14]

Image of the Wild and Rare exhibit

• Dior: 1947–1962 (March–July 2017)[15]
• Fashioning Canada Since 1867 (March–December 2017)[16][17]
• Jane Austen's World: 1792 - 1817 (July–December 2017)[18][19]
• Then, Now, Next: Celebrating one hundred and fifty years of Canada’s contribution to the world of fashion (September 13–October 27, 2017)[20]

• 101 Tales of Fashion (March - December 2018)

• Made in France (March - December 2019)

• All exhibitions cancelled due to COVID, and instead, renovations were made to the gallery space

• Museum reopened briefly in December 2021 before closing again in January, and reopening February 23, 2022. Exhibitions include:
• 300 Years of Fashion - 40 Outfits Illustrating the History of Fashion 1720 - 2020
• Frock On - A Century of Teenage Fashion, Music, and Culture, 1920 - 2020
• Specs Appeal - A History of Eyewear (renamed from its original title 20/20 that was to debut in 2020)
• Portraits from Mali: Photographs by Malick Sidibe and Seydou Keïta 1951 - 1976