PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Jessica Grandbois
Exhibits Development Group (EDG)
+1 651 221 1121
jessicag@exhibitsdevelopment.com
DOWNTON ABBEY® Costume Exhibition to Tour!
An exhibition to celebrate the history of DOWNTON ABBEY® through fashion
will premiere at America’s largest home, Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC
January 22, 2015 --- Dressing Downton: Changing Fashion for Changing Times makes its world
premiere at Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, February 5, 2015. The exhibition will be on
display in the historic rooms of Biltmore House. Highlighting the fashion from one of the most widely
watched television dramas in the world, the traveling exhibition showcases nearly 40 period costumes
and jewelry from the hit series Downton Abbey®.
Dressing Downton: Changing Fashion for Changing Times will be on exhibit at Biltmore Estate through
May 25, 2015, and will then tour North American cities including Chicago, Richmond, Cincinnati,
Oshkosh, South Bend and Nashville through 2017. The exhibition is designed and produced by Exhibits
Development Group (EDG) in collaboration with award winning costumier, Cosprop Ltd., London,
Museum of London, NBCUniversal International Television Production and Carnival Films/PBS
Masterpiece’s Downton Abbey®.
"We are thrilled to be partnering with EDG on Dressing Downton. As a much-loved and internationally
renowned brand, we endeavour to give as much access to Downton as we can. Dressing Downton
provides the perfect opportunity for fans to experience the exquisite costumes from the show in the
grand setting of Biltmore." Dominic Burns, SVP Brand Management and Commercial of NBCUniversal
International TV Production.
Set in the early twentieth century, Dressing Downton traces the events that uprooted British society on
the eve of World War I and ushered in the Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Age and a new way of life. “EDG is
delighted to bring this exhibition to one of our country’s most beautiful estate homes and museums
where visitors will have a chance to see the fashion from this historic time as told through the cultish
drama we’ve all grown to love. Dressing Downton highlights a time in British history when industry,
fashion and politics were changing drastically,” expressed Amy Noble Seitz, Founder & CEO of EDG.
“This exhibition quickly filled its three-year tour which says something about our obsession with all
things British and our thirst for fashion.”
Visit the Dressing Downton website for the entire Exhibition tour schedule, www.DressingDownton.com.
The full exhibition site will be launched in March 2015.
Exhibition produced by Exhibits Development in cooperation with Cosprop Ltd., London. Downton™ and
Downton Abbey®. ©2015 Carnival Film & Television Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Press images available here: https://app.box.com/s/lhbsbix5gezkxtdxl2llq2sxnziwn12g
-more-
About Exhibits Development Group (EDG):
EDG is dedicated to the development, production, marketing and distribution of traveling museum
exhibitions and cultural projects. EDG also serves as a partner to other exhibition organizers, museums,
foundations and collection owners in the U.S. and abroad, in the care and stewardship of their
exhibitions and collections. EDG’s mission is to initiate and promote international cultural and
intellectual exchange by bringing high-quality traveling exhibitions of art, science and history to broad
and diverse audiences. For more information, please visit www.exhibitsdevelopment.com.
About Cosprop Ltd:
The amazing costumes in this exhibition are custom made or come from a stock of more than 100,000
costumes and accessories made by the renowned British costumer, Cosprop Ltd. Founded in 1965 by
John Bright, an award-winning costume designer in his own right, Cosprop specializes in creating
costumes for film, television and theater pieces set from the 15th century to the swinging 60s. Cosprop
has a staff of forty experts in designing, tailoring, cutting, fitting, millinery, jewelry making and repair,
and dyeing and printing.
Since 1986, when the Academy Award for Costume Design was awarded to a Cosprop designer, the
company has supplied costumes for 29 nominated films. n 2011 and 2012, four of the five films
nominated for Best Costume Design included costumes from Cosprop. For more information, please visit
www.cosprop.com.
About NBCUniversal International Television Production
NBCUniversal International Television Production’s in-house production labels include: Carnival Films,
creators of the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning drama sensation Downton Abbey; Monkey
Kingdom, which produces Channel 4’s hit UK reality series, Made in Chelsea; factual entertainment label
Chocolate Media, makers of The 21st Question for ITV; Lucky Giant, which specializes in comedy and
produced Christopher Guest comedy Family Tree, starring Chris O’Dowd for both BBC2 and HBO; and
Australian-based Matchbox Pictures, makers of critically-acclaimed drama series The Slap and Real
Housewives of Melbourne.
Additionally, NBCU International Television Production operates a joint television production venture
with Working Title Television, owns an equity stake in LARK Productions in Canada (Motive), has a first
look deal with Hardy Son & Baker and has established Tellycopter, a research and development
resource that sits alongside its production companies. It also operates a prolific global formats business.
About Carnival Films
Carnival Films, a division of NBC Universal International TV Production and the UK’s largest drama
specialist, is responsible for the global sensation Downton Abbey, winner of two Golden Globes and ten
Primetime Emmy awards. It is the most nominated non-U.S. show in the history of the Emmys with a
total of 51 nominations and is now viewed in 250 territories worldwide. Downton Abbey is executive
produced by Carnival’s Managing Director Gareth Neame, who sold the production company to NBCU in
2008. Carnival has produced many hundreds of hours of popular drama both in the UK and United
States including primetime series such as Poirot, Hotel Babylon, Whitechapel, Jeeves & Wooster,
Rosemary & Thyme, As If, Dracula and The Philanthropist, as well as award-winning mini-series such as
C4’s iconic Traffik, David Hare’s Worricker Trilogy (Page Eight, Turks & Caicos and Salting the Battlefield),
The 7:39 by David Nicholls, William Boyd’s BAFTA award winning Best Serial Any Human Heart, The Old
Curiosity Shop and Enid starring Helena Bonham-Carter. Carnival’s latest series The Last Kingdom is in
production for BBC2 and BBC America and its co-produced Royal Television Society award winning
drama The Hollow Crown, a screen version of Shakespeare’s history plays (with Neal Street productions)
and the sequel The War of the Roses, is currently in production, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Judi
Dench. Carnival recently announced major new development projects such as Freud, Bill Gallagher’s
Jamestown, Neil Cross’s Bay of Plenty with Libertine Pictures for the BBC, Magnum with the iconic
photographic co-operative Magnum Photos and Nostradamus with Joseph Fiennes and Anonymous
content.
About Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC
Located in Asheville, North Carolina, Biltmore was the vision of George W. Vanderbilt. Designed by
Richard Morris Hunt, America’s largest home is a 250-room French Renaissance chateau, exhibiting the
Vanderbilt family’s original collection of furnishings, art and antiques. Biltmore estate encompasses
more than 8,000 acres including renowned gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of
American landscape architecture. Today, Biltmore has grown to include Antler Hill Village, which
features the award-winning Winery and Antler Hill Farm; the four-star Inn on Biltmore Estate;
Equestrian Center; numerous restaurants; event and meeting venues; and Biltmore For Your Home, the
company’s licensed products division. www.biltmore.com.
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