Susie Lau to pick Fashion Museum's 'Dress of the Year'

She will announce the winner of the Fashion Museum’s prestigious award at a special event to be held in Bath in March 2014.

It is the first time that a fashion blogger has been asked to select a winning outfit in over 50 years of the awards, and reflects the crucial role that social media plays in fashion.

Susie Lau, also known as Susie Bubble, launched her fashion blog ‘Style Bubble’ in March 2006 and now welcomes 35,000 visitors a day to her website; along with 214,000 followers on Twitter @susiebubble. The blog features her thoughts, personal experiences and observations on fashion with a focus on spotlighting young and unknown talent, as well as investigations into personal style.

From 2008 to 2010, Lau was editor of Dazed Digital, the website of Dazed & Confused magazine. She now works full-time on her blog and other freelance projects for brands such as Prada, Loewe, Topshop and Nike, as well as writing for publications including Pop Magazine, The Guardian, Elle UK and Vogue China.

Susie Lau said: "I'm really quite honoured that alongside an illustrious list of journalists I've been asked to select the Dress of the Year 2013.  Even more so that I'm the first fashion blogger to be asked to be a selector!

“The Fashion Museum in Bath was one of the places where I really formulated my love of the history of fashion as I happed upon it on a school trip when I was 14.  It's therefore quite exciting to be involved in this key component of the museum."

The Dress of the Year collection consists of 50 era-defining outfits – a selection of which are on display at the Fashion Museum.

Rosemary Harden, Manager of the Fashion Museum, said: “We are thrilled that Susie Lau will be the selector of this year’s dress. She is one of the country’s leading fashion bloggers, and we are so excited about how she can extend the reach and engagement with the Fashion Museum collection, through this brilliant up-to-date medium of blogging.”

The Fashion Museum has been designated as a collection of outstanding national significance and was listed as one of the world’s top 10 fashion museums by the international broadcaster CNN.

Councillor Ben Stevens (Lib-Dem, Widcombe), Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development, said: “We’re really pleased to welcome Susie Lau to select the Dress of the Year 2013 at Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Fashion Museum. It’s amazing to think that the Fashion Museum helped nurture her passion – and we hope many more people are similarly inspired by their visits.”

Museum of Costume