Welcome to the Knit Wits Haus of Sibling, Kingston Museum

12 July 2026, by Nathaniel Dafydd Beard

In this week’s blog, Senior Lecturer and Course Leader BA Fashion Promotion and Communication at Kingston University Nathaniel Dafydd Beard introduces the archive exhibition Knit Wits Haus of SIBLING at Kingston Museum.

If you remember the fun and vibrancy of London’s fashion scene in the mid-early -2000s, then you may recall the exuberance of SIBLING, started in 2008 by three friends Joe Bates, Sid Bryan and Cozette McCreery. With a focus on knitwear, the brand was renowned for their oversized silhouettes, clashing neon colours, leopard spots, fair isles, sequins, and a deliberate embrace of the joyful in menswear and womenswear. 

Knit Wits Haus of SIBLING is an exhibition at Kingston Museum, Southwest London, which celebrates SIBLING in a public setting for the first time since the brand closed in 2017. At that time of its closure the brand’s archive was packed up in 75 boxes and donated to the Fashion Department at Kingston School of Art, Kingston University. Joe Bates had been a lecturer in the department, hence the donation to the archive, which is and remains in use as a research and teaching resource for Kingston’s fashion students under the guidance of Archive Manager Caroline Alexander. The exhibition display encompasses perhaps 10% of this collection, which includes looks from all the SIBLING collections created, plus headwear and accessories and artefacts ranging from boxing gloves and teddy bears through to Barbie dolls, and a fox stole which is included in the exhibition. Curiously and unusually, very little in the way of paper documentation or ephemera such as sketches, mood boards, order books, show invitations, or labels have been kept or saved, so this exhibition tells the story of SIBLING through the garments and knitting techniques used in their construction.

Cozette McCreery, Fashion Consultant and Co-founder of SIBLING, has been integral throughout the process of the project in an advisory capacity, and in her words describes SIBLING and the exhibition: 

SIBLING’s ethos was rooted in collaboration, friends and often chosen family, messing with and magnifying traditional techniques and above all producing garments and shows that were fun with a capital F. Our elevated DIY up-yours punk spirit lives on in the collections of so many brands who are currently embracing embellishment, weaving, texture and craft so it’s wonderful that with this exhibition, the brand is given the platform and therefore the recognition it so rightly deserves. With the world feeling harsh and gloomy my hope is that visitors will come away with a smile and perhaps the urge to wear neon pink, sequin covered sportswear or start their own creative community in the same spirit of positive high energy we did.

 

 

 

In addition to Cozette’s input, this exhibition has been a true three-way collaborative project between the curators Ruth Brimacombe and Seoyoung Kim at the venue Kingston Museum, The Community Brain, a Kingston-based organisation headed by Dr Robin Hutchinson MBE whose mission is to celebrate local heritage and identity through creative collaboration with communities within the Royal Borough of Kingston, and BA Fashion Promotion and Communication, the newest course within Kingston University’s Fashion Department.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A key ethos of BA Fashion Promotion and Communication and Kingston School of art is ‘thinking through making’ and the curation and creative concept of this exhibition has been developed through the 2nd Year project ‘Reanimating the Archive,’ led by lecturer Tony Charalambous. Students were guided through their project brief to develop an exhibition making use of SIBLING garments from the archive, paying homage to the playful, punk sprit ethos of the brand, but also to consider the parameters of exhibiting at Kingston Museum, a small museum very much at the heart of its community, and the needs of potential visitors from a wide demographic. Curation ideas and concepts developed were wide and varied and presented by the students to a panel made up of Kingston Museum curators, The Community Brain team, BA Fashion Promotion and Communication academics and Cozette McCreery. The winning concept taken forward was developed by Scarlett, J, Polina, Riya and Elisa, 2nd Year BA Fashion Promotion and Communication student’s whose theme envisaged exploring SIBLING through the rituals of getting ready and going out on Saturday night.

Choosing what to display meant combing through each box in the archive carefully, to pick 14 Looks for the exhibition, including both menswear and womenswear, and SIBLING ‘signatures’ such as sequined balaclavas with pom poms and a knitted backpack teddy bear. The Saturday Night theme is extended with a mirrored wall on which visitors can draw and write comments and reflected in the bold pink colour selected for the exhibition poster, featuring the student’s own photography with SIBLING garments selected from the archive. The curation of the exhibition demonstrates the vibrancy of SIBLING and the creative talents of new upcoming exhibition makers in an engaging, harmonious way. The range of SIBLING’s collections is intriguing, highlighting their challenge to knitwear conventions, and reminding us of the ‘can do’, rebelliousness of fashion, which is exciting to experience.

Knit Wits Haus of SIBLING is currently on view at Kingston Museum until 26th September, open Thursday-Saturday, 10.00-17.00. Entry is free and wheelchair accessible. Kingston Station is a short walk from the museum, with direct trains from London Waterloo and Clapham Junction. Details of the event can be found here.

Cozette McCreery will be ‘in conversation’ with Tony Charalambous on Thursday 6th August at Kingston Museum. Keep up to date via @RBKHeritage and  @hausofsibling on Instagram 

This exhibition has been helped and supported by Asia Werble, Photographer, Nick & Charlotte Knight, SHOWstudio, Laura Weir, CEO British Fashion Council, Vogue Runway, Katie Grand, Matthew Josephs, Phoebe Arnold, Judy Blame and all the creatives, artists and supporters who became part of the SIBLING Squad.

If this has sparked your interest for iconic fashion moments from London's longstanding nightlife culture, revisit knitwear designer and fashion academic Carolyn Clewer's review of the Design Museum's recent exhibition on the Blitz club on our blog.