Emerging in the early 20th century and comprising writers, artists and intellectuals, the Bloomsbury Group – named after the London neighbourhood in which they would gather – is best known for the liberated, rebellious lifestyles of its distinct personalities (among them Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant) and its vast cultural legacy, which ushered in a new era of modernism.
A new exhibition, ‘Bring No Clothes: Bloomsbury and Fashion’ – set to open this September in Lewes on Britain’s south coast – provides a fresh perspective on the group, honing in on the group's use of clothing and exploring its influence on a slew of contemporary fashion designers and houses. Curated by writer Charlie Porter, supported by Dior and organised by Charleston – the modernist home and studio of Bell and Grant, which is also located in East Sussex – its name is taken from a letter Woolf sent to T.S. Eliot in 1920, inviting him to stay. ‘Please bring no clothes: we live in a state of utmost simplicity,’ she wrote.
