Published on | #WeAre50, General
On Tuesday (12 Nov), we welcomed guests from the force, Birmingham City University (BCU), and youth organisations, to a heritage-themed fashion show displaying 11 different police uniforms from across the years.
The fashion show was a collaboration between the Museum and BCU students in the gaming, digital, and fashion schools, funded by Heritage Fund UK.
Aptly named ‘Fashion Police’, the project hopes to broaden the understanding of the history of policing and the evolution of police uniforms through showcases, digital exhibitions, and a dedicated virtual reality website.
Looking to the future, the Fashion Police project aims to create an educational resource, travelling with exhibits across the West Midlands with the hope of boosting trust and confidence between the public and the police.
In the show, guests were treated to a short history of the uniform, a parade of the reconstructed uniforms, and a real story from an officer who had worn that particular uniform.
All models featured in the show volunteer at the Museum and helped bring officers’ stories to life. From the Police Auxiliary Messengers to culottes issued to female police officers, the Fashion Police captured significant changes in West Midlands Police uniform. Take a look at our gallery below and keep an eye out for further updates on the project and virtual reality exhibit.
Heritage Manager Corinne Brazier said; “Our fashion show ‘The Police are the Public and the Public are the Police’ was an amazing showcase of the collaboration between ourselves and Birmingham City University.
“We brought together personal stories of officers from behind the uniform together with digital avatars created by computing students. This was brought to life with replicas created by fashion students, modelled by some of our incredible volunteers, alongside serving officers.
“We told the story of what the very first police officers wore, and took our audience on a journey through recruiting the first female officers, wartime roles, specialisms and then diversifying our workforce with Black and Asian officers right up to the modern day uniform and the creation of stab vests.
“We were joined by special guest Surjit Singh Sihota who was the first West Midlands Police officer to wear a turban, and it was a privilege to see him thanking Insp Jas Pahil, chair of the force’s Sikh Police Association, who modelled the turban and told Surjit’s story.”
The show demonstrated how heritage can be brought to life in new and exciting ways using technology and collaborating with different faculties in the university.
You can still see some of the uniform exhibits displayed across our Museum, so grab a ticket and head over to hear more about their stories!