In London, the museum is on demand: 600,000 objects from the V&A can be seen for free

So far, the most sought-after lots have been David Bowie's costumes and saxophones; the most booked non-Bowie piece is a superb red silk taffeta fluffy skirt designed by Cristóbal Balenciaga in 1954. But the interests are varied: 'There is the very careful researcher who counts the threads in the weave of a dress or who has chosen something just because it depicts cats. There have also been several people who have clearly been hanging out here,' says Parsons.

The Storehouse is part of a larger development project for the East Bank, which also includes the Sadler's Wells East theatre, which is helping to spread some of London's cultural heritage from the west, while a new outpost of the Victoria and Albert, the V&A East, will open in April. The Storehouse building is accessible to anyone of any age. Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A since 2017, is delighted that so many of the regular visitors are local primary school children.

The Storehouse was previously owned by the government, so the museum received a grant of £63 million to facilitate the move. In addition, a further £20 million was raised for specific aspects of the Storehouse. 'We would never have achieved this without philanthropic support,' explains Hunt. The Bowie Archive, for example, was purchased thanks to the generosity of the Blavatnik Family Foundation, Warner Music Group and the David Bowie Estate. The space housing Picasso's glittering stage cloth Le Train Bleu was supported and named after philanthropists David and Molly Lowell Borthwick. French tech entrepreneur Frédéric Jousset funded new art commissions. "I think everyone understood the civic mission of this project and the fact that it's free. And that's very important!" goes on Hunt.

During the past year, an additional 5,097 pieces and archives were donated or purchased. "It's a central part of how we manage to grow," says Reeve. "Our acquisition budgets are not very high, so a lot depends on cash donations, how much people share their knowledge and their objects. The lifeblood of British museums is really what people decide to donate to us."

In these pages, we asked some members of the V&A team and its community to choose their favourite items from the archive. We asked them the question: what would you put in your box?

TRISTRAM HUNT

TRISTRAM HUNT, director of the V&A

Colonnade of Agra, 1630-1640

Through the glass floor of the ground floor, one of the Storehouse's most astonishing pieces can be admired: a 17th-century colonnade from the Mughal emperor's baths of the Red Fort in Agra, India. Consisting of five marble columns, each inlaid and studded with stones such as carnelian (though many have been stolen over the years), it offers "a wonderful insight into the design history of the Mughals and its incredible multicultural civilisation," says Hunt. And then there is the fascinating story of how they arrived at the V&A: when the fort fell into ruin, much of the colonnade was buried to clear the site. It was then requested for the 1886 Colonial and Indian Exposition in London, at which time it was dug up and taken to South Kensington. In 1957 it was put into storage and stored in a nuclear bunker in Wiltshire, only to be displayed when the museum opened in early 2025. "I like the notion of transparency, the fact that it is under the glass floor: we are not hiding anything, rather we want to interrogate these pieces from the past and understand what their significance is today," adds Hunt. "This place has to convey a sense of the sublime, and I think the colonnade also contributes."

VICK HOPE

VICK HOPE, TV and radio presenter and V&A board member

Hair ornament, 1850-1884, creator unknown

"I love Egyptian creations, especially the jewellery," says Hope. She was drawn to this silver-gilt filigree hair ornament, which would have been worn on the front of a woman's fez in 19th century Egypt. "It is so opulent, so refined, with such meticulous detail. I like to imagine that time, that era, through pieces like this'. Her interest dates back to holidays she spent as a child in Egypt, passing through before going to her mother's native Nigeria. This piece, in particular, helps her recall history: 'When I think about who created it, who chose it and wore it, it takes on so many different facets'.

 T-shirt We Should All Be Feminists, 2017, designed for Dior by Maria Grazia Chiuri

Maria Grazia Chiuri, Dior's first female artistic director, had sent this T-shirt down the catwalk for her debut collection. It was emblazoned with the title of a TEDx Talk and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's essay of the same name: We Should All Be Feminists. "I remember her on the catwalk," says Hope. "An incredible silhouette. Adichie is my favourite writer and Half of a Yellow Sun my favourite book. It recalls the story of my mother, who grew up during the Biafra-Nigeria civil war'. She thought back to her story after seeing a 13-year-old boy reading the book on the train. It reminded her of the T-shirt, which she considers a true motto for life.

TIM REEVE

TIM REEVE, deputy director and coo of the V&A

Mattonella, 15th century, creator unknown

Reeve explains: 'My starting point is always personal: I was looking for something from Norfolk'. The choice therefore went to a 15th century red earthenware tile from the chimney of a house, now demolished, at Little Walsingham, near the north coast. Engraved with the figure of a four-winged angel, hands in prayer, it was made by an unknown craftsman. There is something compelling, according to Reeve, in the fact that this 'such a humble and finely carved piece of building material survived 600 years because someone cared enough to make it live. I'd like to follow its history with a time-lapse to see where it's been'.

David Bowie's boots, 1972, by Pelican Footwear

Bowie's red vinyl boots were designed by New York shoe manufacturers Pelican Footwear: a modest size ten (the star was 5'9"). Along with a metallic blue lamé dress with its iconic lightning bolt appliqué, created by Freddie Burretti, they were designed for the 1973 Ziggy Stardust live tour, after which Bowie announced the retirement of his Ziggy persona. These pieces 'encapsulate him', says Reeve. 'It's about the colour, the glamour, everything. They also reveal Bowie's uniqueness: 'He's everything I am not. So naturally cool and confident, elegant and imaginative'.

MIRI AHN

MIRI AHN, assistant curator at V&A East

Untitled, 2006, by Gregory Crewdson

As a child, the assistant curator at V&A East, Miri Ahn, wanted to be a filmmaker. It was only while studying film at university that she realised she could also work with still and moving images as a curator. This large-scale photograph (measuring more than 2 metres wide) by American photographer Gregory Crewdson attracted her because of its cinematic qualities: it depicts a mysterious and anonymous suburban city. "It looks like a frame from a film and that was the photographer's intention," says Ahn. "It is not documentary photography: the environment is staged with a specific choreography, including lighting. It reminds me of cinema. You can imagine the story before and after". According to Ahn, the work can only be fully appreciated in person. 'The scale is really important, it allows you to see all the details'.

MOJISAYO ROBSON

MOJISAYO ROBSON, creative, writer and former member of V&A East Youth Collective

Robin Hood Gardens, Poplar, London, 1970-1972, by Alison and Peter Smithson

For a year, starting in November 2024, Robson, who was born in the London borough of Hackney, was part of the local team of young people who went to the Storehouse once or twice a week to think about how to make the space accessible and inviting to the local community. The aim was to 'try and make people feel welcome', Robson explains. That was when she came across this piece of architecture: a three-storey section of Robin Hood Gardens, the social housing building in Tower Hamlets designed by Alison and Peter Smithson in the late 1960s. Branded as a striking example of Brutalist design, it was demolished in 2017 due to maintenance issues and a low level of safety for residents. "I was very impressed that the façade of a building is in a museum," says Robson. "Within the youth collective we talked about this at length: what makes things worthy of being remembered, of being archived?" For her, this piece represents "how much London has changed through regeneration and gentrification. And how areas such as Robin Hood Gardens and social housing complexes - rough areas - have transformed, for better or worse'.

ROBYN LYNCH

ROBYN LYNCH, designer

Chair, 1968, designed by Poul Kjærholm and made by E. Kold Christensen

"I'm currently in my furniture period," says the Dublin-born menswear designer. "After dealing with clothes for so long, I found this new interest." He saw the challenge of having to choose just one item from the Storehouse as an opportunity to get closer to "things I wouldn't normally have access to". This 1960s leather and steel chair, designed by Danish 20th century modernist Poul Kjærholm, is something that "I would love to have in the house. Mid-twentieth-century furniture is so trendy at the moment'. She was drawn to this piece because 'it's organic and natural, it's sophisticated, but also contemporary. And quite low, with interesting proportions'.

Jacket, 1992, from the Stüssy brand

When Lynch was commissioned to design uniforms for the Storehouse, she sought to create garments that were 'universal, for everyone'. This Stüssy jacket with its clean shape - inspired by workwear - and boxy fit has a similar timeless aura. "What I love about this jacket is that it could very well be in one of the brand's shops even today," says Lynch. "It is a true testament to a brand that has endured for so many years and still maintains a strong design ethos and timeless appeal. It's a piece I dream of having for my own brand one day - it felt right to opt for something I would happily wear."

YSABEL HANNAM

YSABEL HANNAM, responsible for the accessibility of the V&A East Storehouse collections

Prestile gripper arm, 1966, designed by D.A. Morton

This aluminium and stainless steel handicap aid was designed by an engineer who worked in an orthopaedic hospital. Since the early 1960s, he had seen room for improvement in the wooden sticks with rope pulleys that were given to patients to help them reach objects. Together with two engineering colleagues, he created this stronger tool capable of lifting up to about 2 kilos, almost the "weight of a brick", says Ysabel Hannam, who works at Order an Object. "I think it's ingenious. I like tools that are part of everyday life, but have that extra something."

Torsion Box Shell chair, 1970, designed by Brian Long

This seat inspired by a seashell was designed by designer Brian Long. Hannam was struck by the story a visitor told her about it. It turned out that this person wanted to see the chair because Long was her father: a prototype with the same shape had furnished her childhood bedroom. "It was quite exciting to be with her and hear her story," Hannam says. "She described all the ways she used to sit on it as a child." Hannam saw this almost surreal aubergine-coloured chair in a new light: "Why don't we have purple chairs anymore?" she has been asking herself ever since.

MARIELLA FROSTRUP

MARIELLA FROSTRUP, journalist, presenter and board member of the V&A

Copriletto, 1690-1720, maker unknown

"I always wanted the V&A to mount an exhibition entitled Women's Work to map the way women's work has been shaped by society over the last four hundred years," Frostrup explains. 'This was going to be an important piece in my dream exhibition: the centre piece'. The quilt was made for a medieval estate in Devon, once used by the bishops of Exeter, not far from where Frostrup lives. "I like it because it makes me happy. It's all scraps of fabric. It's an incredible gateway to that era and what people wore, the fabrics their curtains were made of and the colours of the rooms. Even though it is just a patchwork bedspread, it contains so many storytelling cues". A section of lime green silk with pink flowers is particularly attractive: "It's so faded and you can barely make out the tiny remnants of what was definitely a very bright pink," she says. "It looks incredibly fresh and modern, yet it has come to us steeped in the stories that date back 300 years."