Today, I’d like to tell you about a new exhibition which will be taking place in London this spring. It’s called ‘Fashion & Gardens’ and it will be on at The Garden Museum from February 7th until April 27th 2014.
The exhibition will explore the relationship between fashion and garden design, from the age of Queen Elizabeth I to the catwalks of London Fashion Week 2014. Designers featured will include Valentino, Alexander McQueen, Philip Treacy and Christopher Bailey. The phenomena of particular flowers’ popularity at particular periods will be examined. And the exhibition will feature examples of the flower craze of camellias in the 1840s, sunflowers in the 1890s, and daisies and Mary Quant in the 1960s, including a number of remarkable loans from the British Museum, National Gallery and several fashion houses.
The preoccupation with floral decoration is brought right up to date with more recent examples and images of floral and garden themes in contemporary dress and accessories. For example, Yves St Laurent’s Haute Couture 1988 Iris and Sunflower jackets, after Van Gogh, and embroidered by Lesage. Plus Valentino’s exceptionally beautiful Spring/Summer 2013 couture collection where entire parterres were scrolled out over evening dresses, and the wrought-iron arabesques of park gates appeared re-imagined as evening cloaks and capes.
“Fashion and gardens are an irresistible mix. So many designers have been inspired by gardens through the centuries and this exhibition is a fascinating illustration of how nature has influenced both how our clothes have looked and how they have been worn over the years.” – Alexandra Shulman, Editor, British Vogue
Sounds like such an interesting exhibition, doesn’t it? I’m really looking forward to attending! For more details, please visit The Garden Museum website.
(Image : Lady Birley by Valerie Finnis/RHS)
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