One of the UK’s most distinctive cultural institutions, the Barbican, has appointed New Commercial Arts to lead the strategy and creative direction for a marketing campaign to promote its big spring/summer 2027 exhibition, Characters of Fashion.
The win follows a competitive pitch and marks the latest in a line of agencies being appointed to promote Britain’s big cultural institutions. Ace of Hearts recently worked on Tate Modern’s Frida Kahlo showcase, and independent agency Ourselves is leading a campaign for the big reopening of the London Museum at its new site in Smithfield next month. Adam & Eve (then DDB) famously made an impact with “If you’re into it, it’s in the V&A” which took home multiple Cannes Lions in 2024.
Characters of Fashion brings together clothes associated with some of literature’s most enduring voices will be installed in the Barbican’s famous brutalist complex ready for the exhibition’s opening on 15th April next year.
Among the writers featured are Jane Austen, James Baldwin, Charlotte Brontë, Lord Byron, Joan Didion, George Eliot, Ottessa Moshfegh, Sylvia Plath, Jean Rhys, Arundhati Roy, Zadie Smith and Virginia Woolf. A roll call of famous designers also get credit, among them Christian Dior, Alexander McQueen, Prada, Yves Saint Laurent and Dries Van Noten.
Isobel Parrish, senior marketing manager (exhibitions + cinema) at the Barbican, said: “We’re delighted to be working with New Commercial Arts on Characters of Fashion. Our exhibition opens up fresh perspectives on fashion and its place in culture, and we’re excited to bring its ideas to life through a distinctive campaign that reaches new audiences.”
Hannah White, CEO of NCA, said: “Art is in our name and something all of us at NCA care deeply about protecting and pushing forward. It’s a privilege to have been chosen to help drive momentum around what’s going to be an unforgettable show in a cultural institution such as the Barbican.”
