The Cloth was an art and design collective comprising David Band, Fraser Taylor, Brian Bolger and Helen Manning who met at London’s Royal College of Art. In a short but prolific period; 1983–1987 they designed many record sleeves along with their own textiles, fashion collections, and bespoke designs for Paul Smith, Betty Jackson and Liberty amongst many others.

I discovered David Band and Fraser Taylor’s work when they were members of The Cloth through their record sleeves for pop bands including Altered Images, Spandau Ballet, Aztec Camera, Friends Again and The Bluebells.

David Band and Fraser Taylor’s painterly textures and bold colours made each record sleeve a work of art. I saw London shows by them and visited The Cloth studios in London’s Union Street when I was a design student. Inspired by their work, I completed a research assignment for a college project, collecting as much material as I could. This site contains my entire archive of around 200 images, created between 1981 and 1988 along with other items from the period sourced more recently.

See David Band talking to Peter Powell in 1983 about his record sleeve designs at the Vimeo link HERE. A short profile of the collective at work in their studio in 1985 is also online at Vimeo HERE.

Join The Cloth (UK) Facebook Group to share your stories, images and to stay up to date with news. A listing of  7” record sleeve designs is also archived at: www.45cat.com

This site was constructed, and is curated by: Andrew Dineley at Soft Octopus Design Studio. For further information and examples of contemporary works by Fraser Taylor, Helen Manning Clark, Brian Bolger and the late David Band, please visit their websites.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed content for this site, particularly Fraser Taylor, Helen Manning Clark and the following sites for some of the images used:

Consolation Prizes + Like Punk Never Happened + Discogs.com + 45Cat.com

DISCLAIMER: This website is not for profit, images have been archived purely for reference and nostalgia and remain the property and/or copyright of the respective artists, musicians, photographers and/or publishers. Please email me if you feel any copyright or intellectual rights have been infringed and inclusions will be removed accordingly. If you use any images from this website online or in print, please credit the source - www.thecloth.co.uk

SITE UPDATED: 09/08/2019