Soup cans, Brillo soap pads and Coca-Cola: these are the everyday items with which Andy Warhol achieved triumphant commercial success. But before the pop-art pioneer broke through into the mainstream, he experimented with textiles, many of which went undocumented in the historical record due to the way they were produced and sold. Now, over 35 of Warhol’s kaleidoscopic textile patterns have been unearthed by curators at the Fashion And Textile Museum in London and can be seen on tour at Edinburgh’s Dovecot Studios. Andy Warhol: The Textiles is a chocolate-box exhibition of vintage garments and fabric samples created during the 1950s and 60s, all of which collectively demonstrate the long-term development of the artist’s iconography. 

At the entrance, an enticing display of well-known prints ushers visitors towards the exhibition’s entrance. Inside, the curatorial story begins chronologically, with what is thought to be Warhol’s earliest known textile designs. It was around this point in his career that he stopped using his birth name (Warhola), dropping the ‘a’ to indicate a serious commitment to the life of a successful artist as well as a distance from his working-class roots. Featuring fluttering birds, bees, butterflies and somersaulting clowns, these whimsical patterns could be torn from the pages of a child’s storybook. When the garments are paired with their print counterpart, a greater depth can be gleaned from Warhol’s creative process of translating his designs from paper and onto fabric; even better when the exhibition labels pinpoint the exact tools and techniques Warhol used. 

Away from the allure of the advertising world, Warhol revelled in the delights of minute details. Nonetheless, these textile designs were still a commercial endeavour, made for a pipeline of several manufacturers. While we gain insight into how the fabrics were sold across major American commercial stores, less is known about the anonymous garment workers or small boutiques who transformed these into garments. This knowledge gap could have been somewhat circumvented with an enriching exploration of the cultural impact of these designs: who wore these garments and how did they make them feel? What about the people behind the clothes, whose parties and what workplaces did they frequent, and how did they curate their wardrobe accordingly?

All the while there is an urge to compare this exhibition to the great Mary Quant retrospective which recently toured Scotland and taught us of the miniskirt’s socio-political prowess. But it must be remembered that Warhol was not responsible for starting a fashion revolution. Instead, these textile patterns represent the evolution of a repetitive style before his Silver Factory days. 

Among the vibrant blouses, pleated skirts and cocktail dresses are ginormous photographic portraits of Warhol, backlit as if to illuminate the aura surrounding this influential cultural figure. There is an assumption made that visitors do not need to be told the basics of Warhol’s story, that perhaps the textile patterns speak for themselves. And in the second room, they do. A display of outlandish food-themed garments capture the 1960s. Overlapping pretzels in clashing colours make for a fashion statement that only the likes of Grayson Perry and Zandra Rhodes could pull off today. Then there are four utterly gorgeous dresses made from a textile with ice-cream cones, all in different colourways. The red halter neck number would cause a catfight in any modern-day vintage shop. 

In total, this show does not reveal anything especially surprising about the celebrity artist, but the curators’ steadfast dedication to a mysterious area of Warhol’s pre-pop career is exemplary. This is the culmination of ten years’ worth of thorough study, now ready to be inserted into art-history books. For an injection of colour and light-hearted relief during this dreich February, Andy Warhol: The Textiles is a pleasing Sunday afternoon activity. If only the exhibits were enhanced by cultural touchstones (or even intriguing ephemera from Warhol’s archive) to synchronise this household name with two iconic decades of fashion, music and film. 

Andy Warhol: The Textiles, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, until Saturday 18 May.