Leeds exhibition explores heights of fashion in the Himalayas

It is home to the world's highest mountains, where climbers battle the elements in pursuit of glory.
FASHION SENSE: Devon Allen, curator volunteer at the Lotherton Hall exhibition, with a Mahakala  protective power mask from Nepal.FASHION SENSE: Devon Allen, curator volunteer at the Lotherton Hall exhibition, with a Mahakala  protective power mask from Nepal.
FASHION SENSE: Devon Allen, curator volunteer at the Lotherton Hall exhibition, with a Mahakala protective power mask from Nepal.

And now a new exhibition is heading to Leeds, exploring flamboyant fashion from the Himalayas.

Lotherton Hall’s Himalayan Fashions exhibition, which opens later this month, will see clothes and outfits collected from Tibet, Bhutan and Nepal go on display in the house’s fashion galleries.

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Among the colourful creations on show will be a rare and beautiful Tibetan headdress from the 1920s, specially-conserved for the exhibition, as well as traditional clothes worn by Buddhist monks and nuns and a Gurkha uniform.

Also on display will be special extreme clothing and equipment on loan from high-altitude mountaineer and Yorkshireman Alan Hinkes, the first and only Briton to climb all the world’s highest mountains, including Everest and K2.

The kit, which has helped keep him alive and prevent frostbite on Himalayan ascents, includes a one-piece ‘Hinkes suit’, filled with down, and double-insulated boots .

The exhibition runs from March 23 until October 26.