BBC Radio 4 Documentary: 'When Women Wore the Trousers'

White Line Projects collaborated with BBC Radio 4 producer to conceive a documentary entitled 'When Women Wore the Trousers', aired 9th June 2017. In this documentary, presenter Laura Barton explores the little known story of a pioneering group of women who unknowingly challenged conventional notions of femininity and their working roles. The pit brow lasses worked within the collieries of 19th century Wigan, Lancashire. Their unique re-appropriation of men's 'breeches' worn underneath hitched up skirts was originally adopted as a functional response to working within mines. With readings from the actor Maxine Peak, a discussion with Pit Brow Lass, Rita Culshaw about her choice of clothing in the pits and interviews with fashion curators Amy de la Haye and White Line Project's own Fiona McKay and Wigan historian Alan Davies, as well as fashion designers Faye Toogood and chef Angela Hartnett, the documentary discovers how women have worn trousers as a means of empowerment and the enduring appeal of work-wear in contemporary fashion. This documentary is available until June next year as a podcast, you can listen to it online or download it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08spk82

image credit: courtesy of Toogood


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About White Line Projects

White Line Projects is a London-based curation studio founded by curators and exhibition makers Fiona McKay and Xenia Capacete Caballero. Working internationally, we design and produce a range of outcomes from exhibitions to installations, digital experiences and content creation. We also lend our experience to archives on both the digitisation process and museum practices. WLP works with brands, cultural institutions and private clients to develop and produce exciting but elegant results that engage with audiences and enhance their experiences. At WLP Studio, we collaborate with a network of creatives from different disciplines that facilitate a creative result to meet the client's brief. Clients include University of Westminster, Roca London Gallery, British Council, Centre for Fashion Enterprise, Dress and Textile Specialists, Invaluable.com, Baluba, ThinkHouse PR, P1.CN, Amy de la Haye, The National Gallery and London College of Fashion, the Portuguese Embassy London, and Central Saint Martins Museum.