A new London exhibition highlights the untold stories of Black British fashion designers

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A new exhibition is opening in London to chart for the first time the contributions Black British culture made to U.K. fashion and design history and to celebrate Black designers who haven't received public recognition

LONDON — A new exhibition is opening in London to chart for the first time the contributions that Black British culture made to U.K. fashion and design history and to celebrate Black designers who haven't received public recognition.

“The Missing Thread: Untold Stories of Black British Fashion" at central London's Somerset House, which opens Thursday, pays tribute to the influence of Black designers in fashion from the 1970s. But it also spotlights the racism and other barriers they faced in an industry that remains difficult to break into for people of color.

Curators said that the idea of a display celebrating Black fashion and culture has germinated for some time. But it was only after the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of U.S. police — and the global eruption of protests against racial injustice that was triggered — that momentum gathered for a show that also features broader social and political context, such as the rise of anti-immigration sentiment and overt racism in Britain in the 1970s and '80s.

“Even if you have heard of these designers, people have no idea of the trials and tribulations they went through,” said Harris Elliott, one of the exhibition's curators.

The exhibition opens with an entrance made to look like a small house built with colorful measuring tape. Elliott, who created the installation, said that the house symbolized the fragility of hopes and dreams experienced by early Caribbean migrants to the U.K., many of whom were skilled tailors but were ignored once they