This piece has been made in response to photographs of staff and students’ garments held within the Special Collections Archive at Manchester Metropolitan University. The collection contains a number of formal and informal photographs of individuals taken since the formation of the Manchester School of Art in 1838.

Some of these depict the newly constructed craft workshops within the School of Art, taken by unknown photographers in the 1920’s and 1930’s; notably a formal shot of Adolphe Valette and his students. The piece combines constructional details from traditional English rural smocks and contemporary menswear, utilising recycled fabrics including formal shirts and ‘historic’ bed linen from Manchester Polytechnic halls of residence.