Fashion Museum Foundation
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Fashion Museum Bath names new co-chair and trustees
Wednesday, 26 February, 2025Fashion Museum Bath has always been one of Baths top tourist attractions, renowned for its stunning collection of period clothes and exhibitions. Formerly based in the Assembly Rooms, the museum awaits a hotly anticipated relocation into Bath’s Grade II listed Old Post Office, set to reopen in 2030 even bigger and better than before.
After having already announced the exciting partnership between BSU and Bath and Northeast Somerset council to create a world-leading Fashion Collection Archive in Locksbrook (to house some of Museums extensive collection), the Fashion Museum has just revealed the appointment of new co-chairs and eight trustees to its foundation board. Including BSU’s very own Chancellor Sharanjit Leyl and Pro-Vice-Chancellor External Affairs, Andy Salmon.
The Fashion Museum Foundation, established last year, is an independent charity dedicated to supporting the establishment and long-term sustainability of the museum. The foundation itself strives to serve the ambitions of the fashion museum, supporting disadvantaged communities across the region, being a beacon for environmental sustainability and providing a welcoming accessible space for all. It will also mean that promotion for the museum’s collections can be taken global, with strong bonds forged within the fashion industry and key stakeholders.
Alongside Philippa Simpson (Director of Buildings and Renewal at the Barbican Centre) BSU Chancellor Sharanjit will co-chair the foundation board. Speaking to BANES Newsroom, Sharanjit said:
“I’m thrilled to be the co-chair for the Board of Trustees for Fashion Museum Bath, an institution that will be a star attraction in our city and across the Southwest. With its world-leading collection, it will draw countless visitors locally and from around the world.
As Chancellor of Bath Spa University, I welcome the museum’s role in educating on fashion history and the global textile trade. The Museum’s partnership with Bath Spa University and the Centre for Fashion and Sustainability will nurture the next generation of fashion talent. Having interviewed the heads of top fashion brands, I look forward to forging new partnerships and having a world-class museum in the Southwest that celebrates this extraordinary industry”.
Joining her is Pro-vice Chancellor External Professor Andy Salmon, one of eight trustees who will provide support and expertise to the foundation. Andy is working alongside Fashion Museum Bath to help create the UK's first fully integrated National Centre for Fashion and Sustainability, as he describes:
"I'm delighted to be on the Fashion Museum Foundation Board with Sharanjit, our Chancellor and co-chair of the Board. The partnership between the Fashion Museum and Bath Spa University is hugely important; obviously for fashion and sustainability, but also for inclusion, access, new technology, business growth, research and innovation for our region. All of these priorities are shared between our two organisations for city and regional futures".