Amber Butchart is a curator, writer and broadcaster who specialises in the cultural and political history of textiles, dress and design.
She is the author of five books on the history and culture of clothing, and has written for World of Interiors, The Guardian, Times Literary Supplement, Financial Times and BBC Culture. She is a regular contributor to Frieze and ArtReview, writing on the politics of dress.
Amber researches and presents documentaries for TV and radio, including A Stitch in Time, a six-part series for BBC Four that fused biography, art and the history of fashion to explore the lives of historical figures through the clothes they wore. It was described as "snappy and engaging" by The Guardian, "hugely enjoyable" by The Telegraph and "mesmerising" by the Radio Times. She is the history consultant and regular on-screen historian for BBC One's Great British Sewing Bee.
She is a former Research Fellow at the University of the Arts London, a current PhD researcher at the University of Essex, and she teaches cultural and historical studies at London College of Fashion. She is a regular public lecturer, speaking at institutions from the Tate to the V&A, and from Melbourne to Toronto, Dallas, Florence and Hangzhou.
Amber is Lead Consultant in Forensic Garment Analysis with Alecto Forensics, working on cases that require examination and investigation of clothing and textiles. You can find her on the expert database of the National Crime Agency.
Amber is currently curating exhibitions for the Design Museum and the Fashion & Textile Museum, both in London, and she is the host of the Cloth Cultures podcast for the British Textile Biennial where she is an Associate Curator. She is a mentor for charities Arts Emergency and Kent Refugee Action Network, and lives in Margate, overlooking the sea.
Picture by Jo Bridges
“Fashion historian Amber Butchart is part of a new generation of young, accessible historians…. They’re just as likely to tweet as tutor and are making their ideas relevant to a new and wider audience.” - The Irish Times
"Amber Butchart is a woman confident enough in her own intelligence to not find it compromised by her love of a gingham romper suit, velour turban and multicoloured nails." - The i Paper
"Extraordinarily well turned-out" - The Guardian