Yaku Stapleton: Envisioning New Briggate’s Tomorrow

Artist and designer Yaku Stapleton presents an exhibition of garments, inspired by Leeds’ illustrious clothing, textile and tailoring heritage.

Revealing untold tales from a long history of clothing, textile production and tailoring on New Briggate and beyond, Envisioning New Briggate’s Tomorrow showcases a reimagining of clothing for communities of Leeds, today and in the future.

As part of our Hidden Histories of New Briggate project, artist and fashion designer Yaku Stapleton has taken reference from the vast heritage of New Briggate, taking a deep look into the communities, fashion, clothing and costume that has been present on the street over the years.

To inspire the wearable artworks, Yaku worked with local community groups and schools to create costume collages using fragments of photos from iconic Leeds photographer Max Farrar’s Leeds West Indian Carnival archive, and photos of historical clothing from the Leeds Discovery Centre. They also developed plasticine sculptures, which were 3D-scanned to create augmented reality characters.