30 Years of Pineapple by Debbie Moore

The Fashion and Textile Museum are pleased to announce the opening of ‘30 Years of Pineapple by Debbie Moore’, a retrospective exhibition that runs until 24^th February 2010.

‘30 Years of Pineapple’ celebrates the success of the brand and its influence on fashion over the last thirty years.  The exhibition features key looks created by Debbie Moore for the Pineapple label include the Body, the legging, cotton lycra dresses and the Boyfriend sweatshirt.

The ‘30 Years of Pineapple’ exhibition is free and is hosted by the Fashion and Textile Museum, until 24^th February 2010. Exhibition opening times are Wednesday – Sunday, 11am – 6pm with last admission at 5.15pm.

A number of workshops and activities will accompany the exhibition. For further information about these please visit www.ftmlondon.org.

Debbie Moore, a famous model of the 60s, founded Pineapple Dance Studios in 1979 in London’s Covent Garden.   Recognising a need for an accessible, affordable dance space, Moore soon found herself with a highly successful business.  Moore also noticed another gap in the market.  Dancewear available at the time was Nylon Lycra and shiny performance wear.  The dancers themselves were looking for something more comfortable and fluid; customised tights from school uniforms were a common sight.  With this in mind, Moore approached DuPont in 1979 to develop a fabric that would change the way people dressed: cotton Lycra.

Pineapple’s dancewear in the newly developed fabric was an instant hit.  The range quickly expanded as Moore continued to innovate in the collection.  Her fresh approach and intuitive sense of what women wanted to wear led Pineapple from strength to strength.  A New York branch of the Studios opened in 1982, further increasing the influence of the Pineapple aesthetic.

Among the looks created by Debbie Moore for the Pineapple label include the Body (pre-Donna Karan), the legging and the Boyfriend sweatshirt.  She also designed the first range of cotton Lycra dresses; simple fitted shapes in a fitted, easy-to-wear fabric that were unlike anything available to consumers at the time.  The result was electric, influencing the fashion industry across the board.  All of these designs have helped define the styles of their respective decades.

Pineapple has continued to expand and is now recognised for its influence on fashion of the last thirty years.  Debbie Moore’s career has been long and successful, inspiring many women in business along the way.  She re-created the original Pineapple styles with on-line retail phenomenon ASOS, introducing a new generation to this innovative, and historically definitive, company.