Fashion History Museum


Fashion History Museum was a Canadian museum that had galleries located in Cambridge, Ontario, from 2015 to 2025. The FHM chronicles the history of fashion. It was founded in 2004 by Jonathan Walford and Kenn Norman. The museum is a non-profit charitable organization.
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History

Founders

Prior to founding the Fashion History Museum, Jonathan Walford had been the founding curator of the Bata Shoe Museum. Walford has been collecting historical fashions since the 1970s, finding pieces from auction houses, garage sales, and even rescuing some items from the trash. He has also written several books on fashion.
Walford is currently the museum's Curator. The museum's other founder, Kenn Norman, who serves as museum's Director, has a background in finance, project management and design.

Hespeler Post Office

In June 2015 the museum opened in a 3,000 square foot decommissioned post-office that had been opened in 1929 in the former town of Hespeler, now a neighbourhood of Cambridge. The museum retained and restored the original terrazzo floors and installed replicas of antique light fixtures for lighting. A restoration project for the clock over the museum's front doors was funded by the public. The town of Cambridge was once a textile manufacturing hub, making the museum a suitable fit with the town's history.

Closing Hespeler Site

After being defunded in 2023 by the City of Cambridge, the lease was terminated by the city in March 2025. The museum's collections were put in storage while the FHM looks for new premises.

Collection

The museum's collection encompasses over 10,000 items. These items range from what may be the oldest existing European shoe worn in North America, to dresses by Hollywood designer Adrian to 1970s handbags made from cigarette packs.

Exhibitions

Before establishing the current gallery space, the museum created travelling exhibitions and pop-up shows.

2009 exhibitions

Open Drawers - Guelph Civic Museum, August 15–30Talkin' Bout My Generation - Waterloo Region Children's Museum, June–SeptemberEveryday Wear - Ball's Falls Centre for Conservation, November 2009 - January 2010

2010 exhibitions

  • The Towering Art of the Shoe - New Town Plaza, Sha Tin, China, May 2010

2011 exhibitions

  • Nuclear Fashion - Waterloo City Museum, May–September
  • Winter Sports - Ball's Falls Centre for Conservation, December

2012 exhibitions

  • 12.12.12 Life in Three Centuries - Guelph Museum, January 21 - March 10
  • A Shoe Story - Manama Mall, Bahrain, May 23 - June 16
  • 12.12.12 Life in Three Centuries - Markham Museum, September 22 - April 30, 2013
  • Nuclear Fashion - Burlington Museum, October - December
  • Action! Sport, Film & Fashion - Grand River Film Festival, Cambridge, October 16–20

2013 exhibitions

  • Paisley and Plaid: Recurring Patterns in Fashion - Southworks, Cambridge, July 27 - November 30
  • Fashion for the Future: Acquisitions from the new millennium - Southworks, Cambridge, July 27 - September 15
  • It's in the Bag: An Anthology of Purse Styles - Southworks, Cambridge, July 27 - December 22
  • Open Drawers: Recent acquisitions - Southworks, Cambridge, September 20 - December 22
  • MODe: Fashions of the 1960s - Southworks, Cambridge, December 5–22

2014 exhibitions

2015 exhibitions

The present gallery space opened June 27 with the following exhibitions:
  • Treasures from the Collection
  • Back to the Eighties
  • What to do with an old post office?
  • Punks and Posers: 1980s Portraits from New York and London

2016 exhibitions

  • To Meet the Queen: What to Wear in the Presence of Royalty
  • A Canadian Fashion Story: Pat McDonagh 1967–2014
  • Throw me something, Sister? Muses, Mardi Gras, and Glittered Shoes, curated by Angela Brayham
  • Barbie's Boyfriend Ken: The Vintage Years 1961–1967, curated by James Fowler
  • What I did on my Summer Vacation: Photographs by Walter Segers
  • Tying the Knot: 200 Years of Wedding Attire
  • Brides Revisited: Wedding Photography 1870–1970
  • Wild and Rare: Fashion and Endangered Species, curated by Lisa Cox

2017 exhibitions

  • Dior: 1947–1962
  • Fashioning Canada Since 1867
  • Jane Austen's World: 1792 - 1817
  • Then, Now, Next: Celebrating one hundred and fifty years of Canada’s contribution to the world of fashion

2018 exhibition

  • 101 Tales of Fashion

2019 exhibition

2020/2021 exhibitions

  • All exhibitions cancelled due to COVID, and instead, renovations were made to the gallery space

2022 exhibitions

  • Museum reopened briefly in December 2021 before closing again in January, and reopening February 23, 2022. Exhibitions include:
  • 300 Years of Fashion - 40 Outfits Illustrating the History of Fashion 1720 - 2020
  • Frock On - A Century of Teenage Fashion, Music, and Culture, 1920 - 2020
  • Specs Appeal - A History of Eyewear
  • Portraits from Mali: Photographs by Malick Sidibe and Seydou Keïta 1951 - 1976

2023 exhibitions

  • Museum reopened March 15, 2024 and closed January 7, 2024, Exhibitions include:
  • 300 Years of Fashion - 45 Outfits Illustrating the History of Fashion 1720 - 2020
  • The Bead Goes On: Bob Mackie Gowns for Cher
  • Wearing Waterloo: Local Fashions from the Waterloo Region
  • Coronation Celebration: Commemorative Scarves & Handkerchiefs Portraits

2024 exhibitions

  • Museum reopened March 30 2024 and closed March 16, 2025. Exhibitions include:
  • 300 Years of Fashion - 46 Outfits Illustrating the History of Fashion 1720 - 2020
  • Only Fans - 250 Years of Unfolding Beauty
  • Hat-ology: A Lexicon of Hat Styles
  • Nuclear Fashion: Advertising Fashion during the Baby Boom