Join curator Keith Lodwick in conversation with the Museums Head of Exhibitions Dennis Nothdruft, as they delve into the process of creating the exhibition, Costume Couture: Sixty Years of Cosprop.
Peek behind the scenes at the process of selecting many costumes never shown in public before. Helena Bonham Carter in A Room with a View, Meryl Streep in Out of Africa, Maggie Smith in Downton Abbey, Colin Firth as Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, and Leslie Manville in Mrs Harris Goes to Paris.
Delve into the rich history of famed costume house Cosprop through the curatorial lens, as Keith and Dennis discuss how they created an exhibition showcasing not only iconic costumes, but accessories and sketches alongside the design and making process from script-to screen.
Hear how Cosprop’s expertise and creativity brings iconic characters from award-winning films and television to life. Founded by Oscar and BAFTA-winning costume designer John Bright in 1965, Cosprop specialises in period costume for film, television and theatre. Through his work as a costume designer, a costumier, maker, advisor, collector and historian, Bright’s intelligence and eye for detail is in thousands of film, television and stage productions.
Costume Couture, is accompanied by the book The Costume House: The Inside Story of Cosprop by Keith Lodwick. This beautiful, richly illustrated book celebrates sixty years of Cosprop, written by Keith Lodwick, and with a foreword by Dame Judi Dench. ON SALE NOW!
Costume Couture: Sixty Years of Cosprop is at the Fashion and Textile Museum until Sunday 8 March 2026.
About the speakers
Keith Lodwick is a writer, curator and theatre and film historian. He is the former Curator of Theatre and Screen Arts at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. At the V&A, Keith was the assistant curator for the major exhibition Hollywood Costume (2012) and he curated the touring exhibition Vivien Leigh: Public Faces, Private Lives. Keith has contributed to a wide range of publications including The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Film and Television Costume Design (2025), George Hoyningen-Huene (Thames & Hudson, 2024), DIVA (V&A, 2023) and Studies in Costume and Performance (Bloomsbury, 2021).
Dennis Nothdruft is Head of Exhibitions at the Fashion and Textile Museum. He has led the exhibitions team at the Museum since it was founded by Zandra Rhodes in 2003 and previously spent many years working as a design assistant in Zandra Rhodes studios in both San Diego and London. He has lectured widely on many aspects of fashion and textiles and has authored several books including Zandra Rhodes 50 Fabulous Years in Fashion, How to Draw like a Fashion Designer, How to Draw Vintage Fashion, Kaffe Fassett the Artist’s Eye and A History of Fashion for Children.
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