From Deptford to Belgravia: Following the Fabric Trail
September in London has arrived. The days shorten, leaves blush into gold, and well-loved knits are shaken free from drawers. Mist drifts along the streets, carrying with it the soft murmurings of change. This September, pop on your favourite pair of cosy socks, pull on your boots, and let textiles guide your wanderings. From east to west, north to south, London Textile Month showcases exhibitions that weave together tradition and innovation, memory and material.
Drawing into Threads: Embroidery as Encounter
Your first journey might begin in Deptford, where Drawing into Threads: Embroidery as Encounter fills the Goldsmiths Textiles Collection and Constance Howard Gallery with works born from collective authorship. What began as blind drawings in Toronto has, over nearly a decade, travelled through Karachi and Islamabad, transformed by embroiderers’ hands into thickened threads, shimmering floss, and handmade yarns. Each stitch is a conversation across borders, a testament to what can grow when creativity is shared.
In-Vestments (Detail), Gracjana Rejmer-Canovas
Later in the month, head north to the leafy streets of Hampstead. Inside St John-at-Hampstead Church, artist Gracjana Rejmer-Canovas offers a meditation on ritual and form with her installation In-Vestments. Pleated textiles in geometric shapes echo the folds of liturgical garments, their colour and movement resonating with the church’s architecture. Here, textiles become spiritual, contemplative — an invitation to sit in stillness and let cloth speak its language of ceremony.
Climate Positive Microbial Colours, Post Carbon Lab.
In Stratford E20, the British Council presents New Landscapes India, an exhibition that looks firmly to the future. It tells the story of international partnerships rethinking fashion and textiles in an age of finite resources. From microbial dyes to bio-based sequins, from regenerative underwear to handspun circularity, the works on show imagine new ways of making that are kinder to both people and planet. This is textiles as innovation, textiles as change.
Jasmine Is a Lie, A capsule collection by MA RA MI
Later in the month, wander to Belgrave Square where the Romanian Cultural Institute hosts Jasmine Is a Lie by designer Andra Clițan of MA RA MI. Ten regenerative outfits, hand-crafted with natural yarns, fill the space with their quiet strength. Each piece honours both earth and heritage, echoing the traditional crafts of Romania while looking forward to a slower, more sustainable fashion future. It is as much a sensory experience as a visual one: a reminder that textiles are to be felt, to be lived with, to be worn close.
From "Thing in Itself" by Ping Chen: Unfolding Trouser, Blooming Shirt, Echo Tie.
And at the month’s close, return to the Constance Howard Gallery at Goldsmiths in Deptford for Thing in Itself, a bold new exhibition by Ping Chen, winner of the 2025 Christine Risley Award. Through garments that transform and blur boundaries — jackets becoming baby carriers, trousers folding into skirts — Chen explores masculinity, softness, and the beauty of the in-between. It is an invitation to see clothing not as fixed, but as fluid, just as identity itself can be.
This September, let London’s streets become a textile map. Follow threads of colour and cloth from church to gallery, from institute to council hall. Each stop offers its own vision— intimate or expansive, rooted in tradition or pushing towards the future. Together, they form a tapestry of encounters, a reminder of the many ways textiles shape the way we live, think, and connect.
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Further Information:
All London Textile Month showcased exhibitions are FREE to attend. Find out more information and reserve your tickets HERE.
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Image Credits:
Lead: “Unauthorised archeological founds” 2022. Gracjana Rejmer-Canovas.
All other images as credited in photo captions.