Women Fashion Power, Design Museum, October 29 - April 26
Fashion is a language that, when skilfully used, can be much more powerful than words. Its visual cues can convey the power of a hurricane, especially if the wearer has the skills to use them. Does anybody really remember Margaret Thatcher’s speeches? Or Coco Chanel’s voice? What comes forth in our memories is rather the image that these women conveyed: Thatcher’s blue suits; Chanel’s pearls; Princess Diana in a Versace dress on the cover of Vanity Fair, in a photo taken by Mario Testino shortly before her death; the anarchic rebelliousness of ex-punk queen Vivienne Westwood, which continues to this day.
The current exhibition at London’s Design Museum focuses on legendary female politicians, entrepreneurs, journalists, artists, actresses, and models whose style of dressing influenced not only fashion trends, but also the visual language of an entire era. The showing covers the past 150 years in fashion, which have coincided with significant changes in women’s standing in Western societies. Adding to the mystique, this exhibition was designed by architect Zaha Hadid, a woman who knows no borders and whose dramatic forms of expression leave nobody indifferent.
28 Shad Thames
www.designmuseum.org