Leeds Textile Trail

We recently launched Leeds Textile Trail, a journey through some of the people, places and events that make Leeds stand out in the world of clothing and textiles.

This online virtual tour weaves its way from the building of the First White Cloth Hall in the early 1700s, to the spectacular costumes on display each year at Leeds West Indian Carnival, and plenty in between.

Did you know that in the 1970s 20,000 Leeds textile workers, mainly women, went on strike for better pay? Or that Meanwood was one of the leading tanning centres in the country? Perhaps better known is the city's connection with the M&S and Burton's retail empires but how did they start out? There's so much to explore.

The trail was created as part of our #LeedsFashionFutures project, in response to a realisation that although some people know a bit about Leeds' rich textile past and present, it isn’t widely known or celebrated. There’s so much to learn and appreciate from the past but we also wanted to explore how a city’s strong foundations can help it build a new kind of future. Could Leeds lead the way again in clothing and textiles with sustainability at its core?

The 15 stops on the trail are meant as a starting point which we’re very keen to build on and will be exploring how best to do that over the next few weeks.

It was created in collaboration with Leeds Civic Trust, with help from Leeds Museums and Galleries and supported by The RSA, our partners on #LeedsFashionFutures. Designs are by Natalie Morton at Let’s Design agency.

You can find out more about our Leeds Fashion Futures project, which is part of The RSA's Regenerative Futures project, on our website.