If the circus does not immediately spring to mind as a textile haven, look again at the ropes that suspend acrobats, the spectacle of performers’ costumes and the tents the circus performs beneath. The circus runs on textiles...

review for the Surface Design Journal (summer 2021) of the online exhibition Flights of Fancy: fashion and function in circus performance curated by Jenny Leigh Du Puis and Chisato (Chi) Yamakawa.

Home page image: Jules Léotard Carte-de-Visite. Date Unknown. Courtesy of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Archives.