A collection of couture dresses and accessories, designed by the late fashion designers John Claringbold and Ross Weymouth, will soon be inspected by a textiles conservator from the University of Melbourne, thanks to a Community Heritage Grant of $8000 from the National Library of Australia (NLA).
Known as 'The Couture Collection' the gowns are owned by the Griffith Regional Art Gallery who purchased the collection from the designers in 2006. Some of the gowns have been featured in the Gallery's exhibitions over the past twenty years, and many of them were modelled during a fashion parade in May 2025.
The Community Heritage Grant will allow the Gallery to engage a textiles expert to undertake a Preservation Needs Assessment (PNA) of the collection, which will then provide direction as to how to then proceed with further preservation activities for the collection.
Manager of the Gallery, Margaret Andreazza, said "We are so pleased to have received this grant to undertake a PNA of this important collection. Earlier this year, the gala fashion parade raised some funds to put towards the collection, so this PNA will give us some clear direction as to how best to allocate these funds to conserve the collection."
"A conservator from Grimwade Conservation Services at the University of Melbourne will be visiting Griffith early next year to examine the couture items and provide us with a report that will help us decide what the next steps are in looking after this important collection. Ultimately, we would like the pieces to be well maintained and be more accessible to the public, either in real life or online, and this PNA will help us understand what is best practice in regards to making this happen" she said.
Ms Andreazza said obtaining a PNA for the collection will provide information that will help apply for future funding to undertake the work that will be recommended.
"We thank the National Library and the Community Heritage Grants team for accepting our application and look forward to seeing the outcome of the Assessment," she said.
The Community Heritage Grants program is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts; National Library of Australia; National Archives of Australia; National Film and Sound Archive; and National Museum of Australia.
