| Description | The Helen Storey Foundation Archive includes documentation seven of the most prominent project undertaken including: Primitive Streak, Wonderland, Catalytic Clothing, Dress of Glass and Flame, Life on the Outskirts, Neurogenesis, Dress 4 Our Time, as well as Helen Storey’s personal and business papers. The documentation of these projects comprises paper-based work including design illustrations, correspondence, press and publicity material, material samples and documentation public outcomes including education and engagement activities and exhibitions. The archive also holds a considerable number of digital records of project websites and blog posts.
There are also several finished garments from Primitive Streak, a dissolving dress from Wonderland, an air-purifying dress from Catalytic Clothing, the Dress of Glass and Flame, and the refugee tent dress from Dress 4 Our Time. |
| Individual or organisational biography | Helen Storey MBE, RDI, FRSA is a British fashion designer, artist, educator and researcher. She is currently a Professor in Fashion and Science at London College of Fashion and is a member of the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, UAL.
Storey graduated from Kingston University (then Kingston Polytechnic) in 1981 with a degree in Fashion. Upon graduating she worked for Valentino and Lancetti in Rome after which she returned to London and worked with Bellville Sassoon before launching her own label in 1984 with Caroline Coates.
Helen Storey’s eponymous fashion label closed in 1995 and shortly after Storey wrote her autobiography ‘Fighting Fashion’ in which she spoke of her experiences in the fashion industry, her personal life and early childhood.
In 1997, Helen Storey collaborated with her sister, Kate Storey, a biologist on a project titled Primitive Streak, a collection of 27 dresses which represent the first 1000 hours of human life.After the success of Primitive Streak in 1997, the Helen Storey Foundation was established by Helen Storey and Caroline Coates as co-founders. Since Primitive Streak, Helen Storey has collaborated with many other scientists and cultural professionals on six other major projects: Wonderland, Catalytic Clothing, Dress of Glass and Flame, Life on the Outskirts, Neurogenesis, and Dress 4 Our Time.
The Helen Storey Foundation closed in 2019; However, Storey and Coates continue to collaborate with project started by the foundation continuing to this day, including Dress 4 Our Time.
Storey has amassed several awards and accolades throughout her career including Most Innovative Designer of The Year in 1991. Storey was awarded an MBE for ‘Services to Arts’ in 2009, and she was appointed an RDI (Royal Designer to Industry) by The Royal Society of Arts in 2014. Most recently, Storey was appointed the first UNHCR ‘Designer in Residence’ at Za’atari Refugee Camp, Jordan in 2018. |
| Custodial History | The archive was donated to the University of the Arts London in 2021 by Helen Storey, Caroline Coates and the Helen Storey Foundation. Prior to the archive residing at UAL, it was stored at Helen Storey’s home. |