Amber Butchart

Amber Butchart is a curator, historian and broadcaster who specialises in the cultural and political history of textiles, dress and design. 

 

Splash! A Century of Swimming & Style, conceived and curated by Amber, is open at the Design Museum in London from 28th March - 17th August. Read about in The Guardian here and here.

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She has curated exhibitions for the Design Museum, Fashion & Textile Museum and the British Textile Biennial, where she is host of the Cloth Cultures podcast. Her exhibitions include Splash! A Century of Swimming & Style and The Fabric of Democracy: Propaganda Textiles from the French Revolution to Brexit.

 

Amber has presented documentaries for TV and radio, including A Stitch in Time: a six-part series for BBC Four that fused biography, art and the history of fashion to explore the lives of historical figures through the clothes they wore. It was described as "snappy and engaging" by The Guardian, "hugely enjoyable" by The Telegraph and "mesmerising" by the Radio Times. She is the history consultant and resident historian for BBC One's Great British Sewing Bee.

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She is the author of five books on the history and culture of clothing, and has written for Fondazione Prada, World of Interiors, Frieze, ArtReview, The Guardian, Times Literary Supplement, Financial Times and BBC Culture. 

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Amber is a PhD researcher at the Centre for Curatorial Studies (University of Essex), and teaches cultural and historical studies at London College of Fashion. She is a regular public lecturer at institutions throughout the UK, Europe, and North America. ​

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She is a consultant in Forensic Garment Analysis for ApEx Forensics at the University of Exeter, working on cases that require examination of clothing and textiles. You can find her on the expert database of the National Crime Agency. 

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Amber has mentored for charities Arts Emergency and Kent Refugee Action Network, and she lives in Margate, overlooking the sea.​​