Fashion Museum Bath and Bath Spa University have announced a five-year partnership, running from 2026 to 2030, that will transform digital access to the Museum’s internationally renowned fashion collection.
The collaboration will support skills development and academic research and open up new routes into employment across the fashion and creative industries.
At the centre of the programme is the joint development of the Museum’s digital platform, Explore the Collection. This free-to-access resource will bring together research-led digital content, innovative technologies, and community co‑creation.
Over the next five years, the programme will support the digitisation of the Fashion Museum Collection, including at least 600 items captured in 3D, alongside enriched catalogue records, multimedia content, and tools for learning and creative exploration.
This project builds on the prototype Explore the Collection online catalogue, launched earlier this year, which features all 500 pieces from the Museum’s Dress of the Year Collection.
The partnership brings together Fashion Museum Bath’s curatorial, exhibition, engagement and museum expertise with Bath Spa University’s strengths in fashion, creative technology, digital production, photography, design, architecture, sustainability and inclusive practice. Together, the organisations aim to pioneer new models for sharing fashion stories online, while supporting Bath’s growing reputation as a hub for creativity, research and cultural innovation.
Councillor Paul Roper, Cabinet Member for Economic & Cultural Sustainable Development, Bath & North East Somerset Council, said:
“This partnership with Bath Spa University is a major investment in the future of our cultural life, our young people, and our local and global creative industries. Explore the Collection will open up one of the world’s finest fashion collections to everyone, wherever they live, while creating valuable skills and opportunities here in Bath. As we prepare for the Fashion Museum’s reopening in 2030, this project ensures our heritage is not only preserved but shared in new, dynamic, and inclusive ways.”
A key aim of the programme is to create new opportunities for young people, students, and communities across Bath & North East Somerset. It will also support undergraduate and postgraduate research, with opportunities for project-based learning and future PhD study. Community engagement will be central, with activity focused on working with young people, underrepresented groups, and communities with lower educational attainment across Bath and the wider region.
Professor Andy Salmon, Pro Vice Chancellor External, Bath Spa University, said:
“BSU’s new Strategy 2035 positions us as a Professionally Creative University for the Future, committed to inclusive growth, working directly with the core economy at regional, national and international scales. This Explore the Collection initiative is perfectly positioned to articulate these purposes through the application of creative technology across teaching, knowledge exchange and applied research. Doing so builds skills for the 21st century, start-up opportunities for new companies, and innovation within the existing fashion industry around central issues such as sustainability.”
Delivery of the programme will take place in a phased programme across five years, beginning with research and feasibility work, followed by cataloguing, content development, and platform build. A beta launch of Explore the Collection is planned for late 2029, with the public launch aligned to the reopening of Fashion Museum Bath in 2030.
Collaborative work is already underway, beginning with a fashion object scanning session at the Fashion Museum archive. The Fashion Museum Bath team and Bath Spa University’s Future Fashion Works recently spent the day with young people from Youth Connect South West’s Alternative Education programme, introducing them to Polycam, the industry‑standard photogrammetry app used across museums and heritage sites. The session gave participants hands‑on experience of professional 3D scanning and real‑world digitisation workflows. A video documenting the project is now available at https://www.fashionmuseum.co.uk/collaborating-bath-spa-university
Explore the Collection represents a significant step forward in how fashion stories are shared and understood. Through this partnership, Bath & North East Somerset Council and Bath Spa University aim to open up the Museum’s extraordinary collections to more people than ever before, while helping shape the future of digital heritage and creative technology.
About the Explore the Collection Prototype
A prototype version of the Explore the Collection platform went live in February 2026, offering a small preview of what the full site will deliver. The pilot includes pieces from the Dress of the Year collection, early 3D models, and test features designed with students, researchers, and community partners. It has informed initial user experience research and provided valuable insights into how audiences want to explore the collection online.
The prototype project was made possible through public funding by Arts Council England, through its Unlocking Collections programme, supported by National Lottery Project Grants, which supports museums to develop collections‑focused work and increase public engagement.
