The National Portrait Gallery has revealed the design of its new uniform, which will be worn by all its visitor experience, retail, security staff and volunteers from its reopening on 22 June 2023.
Staff will be able to select their uniform from the new collection of gender-neutral workwear, which is emblazoned with the gallery’s new monogram.
The clothing was created after a collaboration between the gallery’s visitor experience team and design studio, HemingwayDesign, which in 2015 revamped the uniform of Transport for London uniforms.
Around 20% of the collection has been created by recycling otherwise waste material.
The Gallery’s new shirts include recycled sleeves, and its t-shirts have been made from organic cotton offcuts, and items will be created in part from locally sourced materials. The security staff will wear ties sourced from charity shops.
Designer Wayne Hemingway said the National Portrait Gallery team “have been fully supportive of this approach and helped push their new uniform to be such a sustainably ground-breaking one.”
Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the National Portrait Gallery added: “Our wonderful front of house team are at the heart of our new Gallery, and are so important as our ambassadors for our visitors.
“It’s also the role where I began working at the National Portrait Gallery in 2001, so this means a lot to me and I am delighted that we have worked so collaboratively with Wayne Hemmingway on the creation of this innovative new uniform as a key part of our transformation as we enter this next exciting chapter in the National Portrait Gallery’s history.”
