The Design Museum reveals some of the trailblazing fashion designs that will go on display in a major upcoming exhibition showcasing London’s unique fashion culture on the world stage in September.
REBEL: 30 Years of London Fashion sponsored by Alexander McQueen will celebrate over 300 young designers — the NEWGEN alumni — and their impact on the global fashion scene.
The swan dress controversially worn by Björk at the 2001 Oscars, Harry Styles’ Steven Stokey Daley outfit from his video for ‘Golden’ and a unique replica of Sam Smith’s inflatable latex suit by HARRI from this year’s BRIT Awards are amongst the highlight objects in the show announced today.
Visitors will also see the revolutionary neon collection from Christopher Kane’s debut catwalk collection, the upcycled Union Jack jacket by Russell Sage that was worn by Kate Moss for Vogue, and a vast Molly Goddard blue ruffle dress that went viral on Instagram when worn by pop-superstar Rihanna.
These extravagant and radical garments will all be brought together for REBEL: 30 Years of London Fashion sponsored by Alexander McQueen which will feature nearly 100 innovative fashion looks from ground-breaking debut and early collections. Many of these creations have entered pop-culture history — and launched global design careers. These items will be shown alongside films, drawings, memorabilia and never-before-seen archive material from some of the most well-known contemporary UK-based designers.
Opening in September to coincide with London Fashion Week, this landmark exhibition will be one of the most wide-ranging surveys of contemporary British fashion culture ever staged in the UK. It will offer an unprecedented look at how careers in fashion are forged, and the multitude of opportunities London’s fashion scene offers young creatives.
At its heart, the exhibition tells the story of hundreds of fearless young designers, who have transformed the fashion landscape through their talent and brilliance. The Design Museum has worked directly with these designers to select some of the most important and groundbreaking pieces from their personal archives. Many of the items going on show have not been seen in public since their debut.
REBEL is a collaboration between the Design Museum and the British Fashion Council (BFC) and will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the BFC’s NEWGEN programme. All the designers featured in the show were supported in the early stages of their careers through NEWGEN. It will be guest-curated by BFC Ambassador for Emerging Talent Sarah Mower MBE, and co-curated by the Design Museum Senior Curator Rebecca Lewin. NEWGEN was established by the British Fashion Council in 1993. It is an initiative that supports the best emerging fashion design talent in the UK, and aims to build creative, responsible businesses for the future. It has helped nurture the careers of hundreds of designers and businesses, launching many of them onto the international stage. Alumni featured in the exhibition include Lee Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane, Charles Jeffrey, Christopher Raeburn, Erdem, Henry Holland, Kim Jones, J.W. Anderson, Mary Katrantzou, Molly Goddard, Roksanda, Simone Rocha, Stuart Vevers, Priya Ahluwalia, Saul Nash, Grace Wales Bonner, Bianca Saunders and many more,