In July 2022, John Galliano presented his Maison Margiela AW22 Artisanal collection, Cinema Inferno. Held inside Paris’ Théâtre National de Chaillot, the show was inspired by the American movies that Galliano grew up with: A Streetcar Named Desire, Natural Born Killers and Suddenly, Last Summer. There were cowboys, witches and pumpkins, as well as one glittering dinner jacket, featuring a treble clef embellished onto the back. 

Today, inside a former horse hospital tucked behind Bloomsbury’s Kimpton Fitzroy hotel, I’m presented with a jacket almost identical to the one that appeared in Margiela’s Artisanal collection. Both jackets are heavily embellished with all the same appliqué details – treble clef included. The one in front of me is the original: a late 1940s to early 1950s smoking jacket, preserved and guarded by The Contemporary Wardrobe, an archive of well-over 20,000 garments dating back to WWII. 

“It’s a really great piece,” says archive director Kate Forbes, referencing the jacket resurrected by Galliano. Forbes and her team are used to seeing familiar garments crop up on global runways; after all, the archive exists to educate and serve the fashion industry. First established in 1978 by the late Roger K Burton, the Contemporary Wardrobe is a non-profit community interest company that tells the story of British subcultures through fashion. 

Located above The Horse Hospital, an arts and events space, the Community Wardrobe's towering double-decker rails are home to all kinds of treasures. Dedicated to documenting teenage identity post-WW2, the collection features invaluable artefacts of British youth culture – spanning mods, punks, new wave, club kids and ravers. Of course, this makes it a gold mine for anyone working in the creative industries, and it is frequented by students, stylists, costume designers and all your favourite fashion brands. 

“People like to find those special little pieces that are going to elevate their story,” says Forbes. “It tends to be fashion houses [that visit]. We quite often have brands come in to do research.” She lists Margiela, Phoebe Philo and Burberry off the top of her head, and her colleagues assure me that “everyone has visited the archive”.  After making an appointment to visit the archive, brands borrow pieces for three months to a year.

Occasionally, similar versions will appear on the catwalk, which is what happened with a 60s Mackintosh that mysteriously went missing. “The brand said they’d lost it,” explains Forbes. “Then we saw the catwalk and there was an absolute replica on the runway. Then of course it magically reappeared.” 

Items from the archive are also immortalised in the pages of magazines (Dazed included), in music videos and in films. All the costumes for the cult 1995 film Hackers were sourced from The Contemporary Wardrobe, while musicians such as David Bowie, Harry Styles and Beabadoobee have all modelled the clothes. FKA Twigs and her stylist Matthew Josephs are also regular visitors; the singer has borrowed items for several of her music videos, including an 80s Rachel Auburn dress worn in her “jealousy” video. 

Although it’s existed for almost 50 years, the archive might be the fashion industry’s best kept secret. The Contemporary Wardrobe was born when Roger K Burton – a former mod working on a stall at Portobello Market – was asked to supply suits for the 1979 film, Quadrophenia. He was too attached to simply hand them over and agreed to lend them instead – marking the archive’s first rental transaction. Last year, Forbes and Burton had been discussing ways to revitalise the collection for 2026, but sadly, Burton died before their plans got underway. 

“We both knew it needed a huge boost to reach its full potential,” says Forbes, who honoured Burton’s wishes and pressed on with making over the archive. They had a major clearout at the end of 2025, culling the moth-eaten and high-street pieces. Now, the collection is rehung on new, purpose-built racks, with an upstairs space dedicated entirely to shoes. 

Today’s archive might be a streamlined version of what it was a year ago, but Forbes admits she can’t help but continue adding to the collection. In fact, she’s set on hunting down a particular, defining item of the 2020s. “There’s one pair of boots that came out a couple of years ago,” says Forbes, describing the popular Givenchy Shark boots. “They just look like you’ve pulled your trousers down. They’re an abomination – I would love to have a pair.” 

As for her favourite pieces in the collection, she admits that having to pick between them would as impossible as choosing a favourite child. Instead, she defers to what Burton used to say, listing the items he would rush to save in a fire: “A 1940s zoot suit; a 1960s mod suit; a 1950s Let It Rock biker jacket; a 1960s leather jacket by Vince; a 1970s bondage coat by Seditionaries and as much Rachel Auburn as we could carry!”