Hidden behind Artefact on Roscoe Street in Liverpool is a little known space housing approximately 11,500 unique items available to hire, including clothes designed for and worn by actress Jodie Comer. Unit 27 opened in July 2025 and was created by costume designer Holly Rebecca after she moved to Liverpool and brought her extensive 20th and 21st century costume archive with her.
From London to Liverpool
Holly is originally from Barnsley and moved to London at 18 for university, where her career began. During her time at the London College of Fashion, she interned at several magazines and worked in their fashion cupboards, seeing first-hand how stylists operated. She told the ECHO: "It wasn't easy, I had three jobs and I was working around the clock but it was something that suited me and my personality because it was about team-based collaboration. When I finished my degree I went back to those fashion cupboards and slowly started working my way up and I ended up with a maternity cover job at Harper's Bazaar for nine months assisting an editor."
It was during that position that Holly found the details for a stylist working with Florence + The Machine. She said: "I really loved her style so when I finished that job I emailed the stylist and asked if she had any positions available. She told me to come and meet her the next day, so I did and I ended up staying with her for four years. It taught me so much about responsibility, managing high pressure environments, dealing with the music industry and always being on the move. It was really eye opening and I loved it."
A career in costume design
After that, Holly went on to work with Solange, the American singer, songwriter and actress and Beyoncé's younger sister, as her global stylist for four years. She was then contacted by a director who saw her work online. She said: "I'd never thought about going into costume design in a million years because I never knew it was possible to access that world. I was very honest and said I didn't know how film sets operate but I was told it was my eye that they were interested in so I went for it and that's how I ended up working in film and TV."
Holly's costume design credits include the Oscar winning short film The Long Goodbye and Netflix hit His House, which won the Outstanding Debut award at the 2021 BAFTAs. Most recently she has worked on The Death of Bunny Munro, a miniseries based on Nick Cave's 2009 novel, and the upcoming film Stuffed, starring Jodie Comer and Harry Melling.
The move to Liverpool
It was the Channel 4 drama Help, starring Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham, that was the catalyst for Holly's move to Liverpool. She said: "I lived in London for 17 years and I realised after some time that none of my jobs were actually in London because I was working all over the world. I had fallen out of love with London and I realised I didn't need to be there. I was looking to move but I didn't know where I wanted to go."
Glasgow was high on her list until Covid hit and lockdown derailed her plans. During the third lockdown in 2021, she was offered a job on Help, a film set in a fictional Liverpool care home during the pandemic. She said: "My mum was due to move into a care home during that time and that's almost why I decided to accept the job because I wanted to educate myself around elements of that world so it felt like stars were aligning for that opportunity. It was a very emotional, poignant and informative process. Working with that group of people was really special because they're all geniuses in their own right and the space we were allowed to create was incredible. We knew it was an important story to tell and it was really tough because everything was closed including things like fabric shops, and we needed to create something unique and accurate because it was all happening in real time."
Despite never having visited Liverpool before, Holly felt an instant connection with the city. She found a room in a house in St Michael's and, although she initially planned on staying for a month, six months went by and she had no desire to leave. She said: "I had a studio in London but it was much smaller and absolutely rammed to its maximum capacity. I slowly moved my stock up here and I had put it in storage units because I didn't have space at the time but operating out of that was a nightmare."
Creating Unit 27
Holly began searching for spaces but it was only when she joined forces with collaborator and friend Jane, who worked as Head Cutter on Help and now runs the adjoining space Artefact, that Unit 27 was born. She said: "We were both looking for places so when we found this place we just thought why don't we cut it in half and share it?"
Unit 27 opened in July 2025 and houses an extensive curated archive of around 11,500 contemporary and period pieces available for item-by-item hire. The items range from Holly's own designs and pieces straight from film sets to things sourced from all corners of the world. The facility also houses a dedicated fitting room, laundry area and sewing workroom, which can be booked separately or as a whole.
Holly said: "In London, everything is so expensive and it feels less community spirited. I wanted to create something that wasn't just an archive but a place people can use and gain from. It's an ever-evolving space and hub for creatives in the creative industries. It was initially built with the costume design department in mind but since then we've had exhibitions, photoshoots, script read throughs and rehearsals in here. I'm open to what people might want to use it for because it's a visually appealing space and you can move things and manipulate it in ways that suit your needs."
Holly also works with Liverpool John Moores University to provide training opportunities to the next generation of local talent. She said: "Whenever anyone comes through the door, they are wowed and they always say 'this is such an amazing thing for Liverpool' and thank me for creating it. I'm someone who finds it quite hard to live in the present because I'm always looking ahead to the next thing. I have to stop and remind myself that this place is important and it's bigger than all of us. It's something that will allow so many people to learn and grow and it's nice to act as a reminder for people that they can create their own journey within various industries. The fact that I can do that just by being here is quite special."
A hub for creativity
Over the last few years, Liverpool has firmly established itself as a hub for the film industry, with the city serving as the backdrop for a variety of Hollywood films and hit TV shows. Holly thinks this growth can only be seen as a positive for people involved in creative industries. She said: "I have friends that have lived here for a long time and from them it sounded like the creative scene in Liverpool used to be really buzzing. From what I can gather it seems like many places have closed down for various reasons which sounded like a really sad situation because Liverpool was known for being such an independently creative city. It feels like things are starting to move in a good direction again. Quarry around the corner are doing amazing things and Outer Waves is a festival that's happening every year now that brings together independent artists from all over the world. That's a really amazing strong central hub for creativity that is essential and really beautiful. I feel like it's an exciting time for people to push through and try and build that world back up again so it's really nice to be a part of that in some way."
