Valerie Mendes, formerly Head of the Textiles and Dress Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum, is a freelance fashion and textiles historian and consultant. She began her career at Manchester University's Whitworth Art Gallery, and has curated numerous exhibitions and published widely. Professor Amy de la Haye is Rootstein Hopkins Chair of Dress History and Fashion Curatorship at London College of Fashion. She was formerly Curator of Twentieth-Century Dress at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Her many publications include The Cutting Edge: British Fashion 1947–1997; The A–Z of Style; Chanel: Couture & Industry; and, with Judith Clark, Exhibiting Fashion.