When the Queen set off on the 1953 Commonwealth Tour, tucked among her wardrobe were dresses made not by a Parisian couturier but by a cotton firm from Preston. That Horrockses Fashions could occupy that position — dressing royalty while staying within reach of ordinary women — is the fascinating story now being told at The Harris as its major new exhibition opens its doors this weekend.

Horrockses Fashions: Everyday Glamour and the Art of British Ready-to-Wear opens on 19th September 2026 and runs until 31st January 2027 in Gallery One at The Harris — the most significant gathering of Horrockses garments at the museum for 25 years ago, and 80 years on from the label's first-ever fashion show, held in London on 3rd April 1946.

A Rare Find, Home in Time for Opening

Among the highlights on display is a rare map-print housecoat from Horrockses' very first collection, tracked down earlier this year after The Harris launched a national appeal. Only two examples of the garment are known to survive, and the piece — carefully packed and collected from its owner in Edinburgh — arrived in Preston in time to take its place in the exhibition, 80 years after it first appeared on the catwalk.

Queen Elizabeth II chose to wear Horrockses Fashions for her 1953-54 Commonwealth tour. The Queen had first pick of each collection, wearing the garments before they went on public sale — an arrangement that was kept discreet. Princess Margaret and the Duchess of Kent were also admirers.

The exhibition features a dress from the 1953 Coronation collection, printed with the words 'Elizabeth Regina 1953', alongside contributions from several lenders that make this the most comprehensive assembly of Horrockses garments ever staged. The Harris holds the largest museum collection in the UK: over 100 dresses, of which 60 are on display.

Democratic Glamour: A Lancashire Success Story

Horrockses was, in origin, a Preston cotton firm. Its venture into fashion — launched in the mid-1940s — involved sending designers to study the Paris collections, recruiting graduates from the Royal College of Art, and commissioning textile designs from artists including Graham Sutherland and Lucienne Day. The resulting garments, sold through Harrods and Selfridges among others, brought couture principles to a price point accessible to women on ordinary wages.

Women saved for Horrockses' dresses. They wore them to weddings and on honeymoon. Maryse Addison, described as the best-dressed woman in London and whose brother worked at the company, owned an entire wardrobe of them — her collection, mostly split between Brighton & Hove Museums and The Harris, forms a significant element of the exhibition.

At its peak, Horrockses Fashions produced two collections a year — on average 160 dresses per collection. The company's design archive, including sample sheets, fabric swatches and design books, is on display alongside the garments, offering a rare window into a British fashion operation whose influence on how women dressed in the late 1940s and 1950s was considerable.

The exhibition is curated by Scott Schiavone, Decorative Art Curator at The Harris, who has also written Everyday Glamour: Horrockses Fashions from Royalty to Ready to Wear (SCALA), the first major new publication on the subject since Christine Boydell's 2010 volume for the V&A. Boydell is among the book's contributors, alongside Lisa Mason of National Museums Scotland and Historic Royal Palaces' Matthew Storey. Fashion historian Amber Butchart from the BBC’s Great British Sewing Bee has written the foreword.

It's a huge privilege to finally open the doors on this exhibition. Horrockses is a genuinely extraordinary story — a Preston cotton firm that dressed the Queen while remaining affordable to ordinary women — and yet it's one that's had surprisingly little attention until now. To be able to bring together the largest collection of these garments ever assembled, including a piece as rare as the map-print housecoat we tracked down only months ago, feels like a fitting way to mark 80 years since Horrockses first showed its clothes to the world. I can't wait for people to see it.

The exhibition marks a significant moment for The Harris, which has been actively building the scholarly case for the brand's cultural importance, with a hope to apply to Arts Council England for Designation status. It is 25 years since a major exhibition was mounted at The Harris, and the first time so many dresses have been brought together in a single institution.