An outfit by Fijian designer Hupfeld Hoerder has gone on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. The outfit was created in the early 1990s using barkcloth and was worn as a wedding dress.
Barkcloth is a type of natural cloth made by stripping, soaking, and beating or weaving lengths of the inner bark from certain trees, often decorated with intricate painted or stamped patterns.
Pacific Islanders have been making barkcloth for millennia, but its use declined during the 19th century. Today it is being revived in places such as Hawai’i and Niue and remains strong in the Islands of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa thanks in part to contemporary fashion designers who create couture from barkcloth.
The striking outfit consists of a skirt, bodice and jacket. It is now on display in the Facing the Sea gallery at the National Museum of Scotland.
National Museum of Scotland
Chambers St, Edinburgh EH1 1JF
Open daily, 10:00 – 17:00
