Organised by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, (LACMA), in partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, this is the first major Australian exhibition to explore McQueen’s thought-provoking and singular viewpoint. Showcasing over 100 garments and accessories alongside more than 70 artworks, including painting, sculpture, photography, works on paper and decorative arts, from a multitude of eras and cultures, Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse offers unprecedented insight into McQueen’s far-reaching sources of inspiration, his creative process and his capacity for story-telling.

Acclaimed collections such as the controversial Highland Rape, autumn-winter 1995-96 and its poignant sequel The Widows of Culloden, autumn-winter 2006-07 highlight the autobiographical nature of McQueen’s work, while dramatic presentations of Deliverance, spring-summer 2004, The Horn of Plenty, autumn-winter 2009-10 and his last, Plato’s Atlantis, spring-summer 2010 traverse existential themes.

Organised into four thematic sections, the exhibition considers McQueen’s personal and philosophical design vocabulary. Mythos investigates McQueen’s use of belief systems, religious doctrines and mythologies as a framework for contemplating human nature and contemporary society; Fashioned Narratives explores the designers penchant for telling stories of imagined worlds via his collections and runway shows; Technique and Innovation highlights McQueen’s masterful technical abilities; while Evolution and Existence examines his fascination with nature and life cycles, especially his view of death – not as an end, but as an opportunity for change.

Alexander McQueen will be launched on Saturday 10 December 2022 with the popular event, the NGV Gala. A celebration of art, fashion, fine food and wine, the NGV Gala was inaugurated in 2017 and has since become an anticipated event on Melbourne’s events calendar.

Alexander McQueen – Mind, Mythos, Muse Exhibition
NGV International, Melbourne
Opens 11 December 2022
www.ngv.vic.gov.au

Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto premiered in Paris in autumn 2020 and makes its international debut at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto was developed by the Palais Galliera, with outstanding loans from the Direction du Patrimoine de CHANEL, the fashion house’s heritage department, and is curated by Miren Arzalluz and Véronique Belloir, respectively the Director and Head of Collections of the museum.

With designs drawn from the rich holdings of the Palais Galliera and the Patrimoine de CHANEL in Paris, complemented by important loans from major public museums and private collections, Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto showcases the impressive breadth of Gabrielle Chanel’s output and her design codes. The Melbourne presentation also features several designs from the NGV Collection, including recent, never-before-seen acquisitions generously gifted by Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family, including a white lace Evening dress, spring-summer 1933 and spectacular shirred red silk velvet and marabou-lined Evening cape, c. 1924–26.

Considered to be one of the most influential designers of the twentieth century, Gabrielle Chanel introduced a language of modernity into fashion that still resonates today. With the opening of her first fashion boutique in Deauville in 1912, then her couture house on 31 rue Cambon in Paris in 1918, Chanel began to reform women’s wardrobes by creating a new code of dress that privileged comfort, function and elegance, and responded to the growing desire for greater social freedoms among women.

Chanel’s designs offered a restrained luxury that rejected ornamentation and, above all else, allowed women to move with ease. She pioneered the use of jersey and tweed, drawing inspiration from menswear and sportswear conventions, and championed the ‘little black dress’ and the suit as liberating modes of dress for women.

Unfolding across several chronological and thematic sections, Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto explores Chanel’s design codes through a visually arresting and sumptuous display of more than 100 garments that trace her remarkable career. These are placed alongside her innovations in perfume, jewellery and accessory design. Highlights include early examples of her use of black to connote modernity and chic; delicate lace gowns; wool jersey and tailored tweed suits; dazzling beaded garments; and bold costume jewellery. The survey offers audiences an unprecedented opportunity to appreciate Chanel’s significant impact on the development of womenswear throughout the twentieth century, and to consider the legacy of her designs in contemporary culture.

This major exhibition is presented by the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in partnership with the Palais Galliera, the preeminent fashion museum of the City of Paris, and will be launched on Saturday 4 December 2021 with the popular black-tie event, the NGV Gala.

Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto
5 December 2021 – 25 April 2022
NGV International, Melbourne
www.ngv.vic.gov.au

Featuring designers from Charles Frederick Worth, the celebrated ‘father of haute couture’, to the iconoclastic Alexander McQueen, the exhibition includes over 200 garments and archive works from the extensive fashion research collection comprising hundreds of designers’ sketches; workbooks; photographs; and fashion magazines, journals and periodicals from the early nineteenth century onwards. The selection is representative of Paris fashion and haute couture and demonstrates how a focused supporter can transform a museum collection.

Krystyna Campbell-Pretty’s support has introduced into the NGV Collection designers such as Elsa Schiaparelli, whose garments included Surrealist elements; Boué Soeurs, who were specialists in embroidery; and Christian Lacroix, who had a deep appreciation of history, textiles, colour and drama. The gift also includes Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel’s ‘little black dress’ in a number of styles, with the earliest from 1919; Madame Grès’ columnar gowns and sculptural bias-cut gowns by Madeleine Vionnet, a designer of the 1920s and 1930s who has inspired countless designers, including Issey Miyake and John Galliano.

The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue of over 300 pages including focused entries on major fashion houses and designers as well as an interview between Olivier Gabet, Director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and Krystyna Campbell-Pretty about her personal history and her philanthropic motivations. It also includes essays by Françoise Tétart-Vittu, former curator at the Palais Galliera, and by NGV Curators.

The Krystyna Campbell-Pretty Fashion Gift Exhibition
National Gallery of Victoria – Melbourne
1 March – 14 July 2019
www.ngv.vic.gov.au

For the first major exhibition from Museum of Brisbane’s Easton Pearson Archive, we worked together with Pam and Lydia to select the designs they felt highlighted the greatest innovations of their design practice and to share the stories behind the evolution of each garment: the design process, techniques, collaborations, experimentation’s, successes and set-backs.

The garments will be showcased on more than 60 forms in Gallery One, alongside accessories, look books, sketches and range plans.

Slow fashion, sustainability, design practice and experimental future fashion will also form the basis of the exhibition’s public programs to begin in December.

The Designers’ Guide: Easton Pearson Archive
23 November 2018 – 22 April 2019
Museum of Brisbane
www.museumofbrisbane.com.au

Exclusive to Melbourne, this exhibition is a collaboration between the NGV and the House of Dior and includes a sumptuous display of more than 140 garments designed by Christian Dior Couture between 1947 and 2017.

The House of Dior explores the story of the fashion house through a series of themes, featuring works by the seven designers who have played key roles in shaping Dior’s renowned fashionable silhouette: Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons and Maria Grazia Chiuri.

The exhibition narrates the rich history of the fashion house, including Christian Dior’s early influences, the design codes synonymous with the House of Dior, insights into the Dior atelier workrooms, the role that accessories have played in expressing the complete Dior look and the milestones of its six successive designers following Christian Dior’s sudden death in 1957.

Highlights include examples from Christian Dior’s iconic spring 1947 New Look collection, magnificent displays of Dior’s signature ball gowns and evening dresses, as well as designs from the inaugural couture collection of the House’s first female head designer, Maria Grazia Chiuri.

Dior’s unique and longstanding affinity with Australia is also examined, including the historic Spring 1948 fashion parade at David Jones, Sydney, where models wore fifty original creations by Christian Dior. This was the first complete Dior collection to be shown outside of Paris.

The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture is accompanied by a scholarly publication, a dynamic program of talks, tours and events and the curated NGV Friday Nights program, featuring live music, food and performances.

Organised by the National Gallery of Victoria and Christian Dior Couture.

The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture
27 August – 7 November 2017
National Gallery of Victoria
www.ngv.vic.gov.au

Gifted, garrulous and unapologetic, Orry-Kelly designed gowns for illustrious films including 42nd Street(1933), Jezebel (1938), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942), Auntie Mame (1958), and Gypsy(1962). He was also the first Australian to win three Oscars®, for An American in Paris (1951), Les Girls (1957) and Some Like it Hot (1959).

As Chief Costume Designer at Warner Brothers Studio between 1932 and 1944, and then later as a designer for 20th Century Fox, MGM, Universal and RKO, Orry-Kelly was a major factor in the success of Ginger Rogers, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Errol Flynn, Katharine Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe, among many others.

Orry-Kelly: Dressing Hollywood brings home the untold story of the boy from Oz who was a friend and confidant to the silver screen’s pre-eminent stars, as well as a prodigiously talented designer. The exhibition will present the first comprehensive survey of his career and will also offer access to Orry-Kelly’s previously impenetrable personal history, touching on his life as a proud young gay man who had a troubled relationship with great love, Cary Grant.

From letters, clippings, paintings, drawings, archival footage and photographs, to the spectacular costumes themselves, the exhibition reflects the theatricality and glamour of costume design from mid-century Hollywood. It contains objects loaned from prestigious archives and private collections to showcase the breadth and scope of Orry-Kelly’s impact.

Announcing the exhibition, ACMI Director & CEO, Katrina Sedgwick said: “We are delighted to be celebrating the professional and personal journey of our prolifically talented artistic export. With Orry-Kelly: Dressing Hollywood we pay homage to Hollywood’s star-maker whose artistry has profoundly influenced costume design across decades and continents.”

To complement the exhibition, ACMI will screen the documentary Women He’s Undressed (2015) from internationally-respected filmmaker Gillian Armstrong. ACMI worked in close collaboration with Armstrong’s team in developing the exhibition and is indebted to their comprehensive, detailed research.

Orry-Kelly: Dressing Hollywood at ACMI
18 August 2015 – 17 January 2016
acmi.net.au

Featuring ensembles, accessories and archival material from the Museum’s collection and Dinnigan’s personal archive, this exhibition presents her signature lace and embellished designs in a series of striking themed sets.

Realised by Anna Tregloan, an award-winning stage designer and artist, the scenes bring into focus Dinnigan’s unique creative perspective; they highlight the romantic, feminine designs that have seen her work sought after by a star-studded clientele including Taylor Swift, Dita Von Teese and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.

‘Dinnigan’s sense of adventure, determination and passion have led her to become Australia’s most recognised international fashion star. She is a dynamic, inspiring woman and her influence on Australian fashion is remarkable.’ – Edwina McCann, Editor-in-Chief, Vogue Australia

Collette Dinnigan: Unlaced Exhibition
5 September 2015–28 August 2016
Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
www.maas.museum

Advance tickets are being snapped up quickly with two artist announcements revealing a long and jampacked program of over 30 national and international performers set to get the joint jiving over three days and nights.

Presented by Robot Productions, over 15,000 rock’n’roll fans are destined to flock to the event, which will take place over two consecutive weekends, bringing with it all things rockabilly, vintage and retro. For its 16th year, Brisbane’s Rocklea Showground will come alive from Friday July 31 to Sunday August 2, with thousands of rockabilly and hot rod fans rolling up for their annual dose of “ultra-kool kustom kulture”.

Following the very successful inaugural launch of GreazeFest in Melbourne last year, GreazeFest returns to Sandown Racecourse from Friday August 7 to Sunday August 9, promising to be even bigger and better for its second year.

Headlining the highly anticipated musical program are The Go Getters from Sweden who, in the frozen badlands of Västerås, formed a trio in 1988 that still crackles like a Texas oil fire 25 years on. They describe their custom blend as ‘ass-kickin’, blues-marinated, high-octane, mega-watt rockabilly boogie’.
From Las Vegas, Nevada will be the savage sounds of Will & The Hi-Rollers who had a baptism of fire in 2005 and were snapped up by Californian-based Wild Records, specialising in the world’s hottest rockabilly acts. Their latest record La Diabla is a hybrid of Spanish and English songs offering a fresh take on their signature, rockabilly sound.

Joining them at the top of the bill is the low down rockin’ and-a-reelin’ sounds of New Zealand’s Labretta Suede & The Motel 6, who promise a reckless show with a 50s rock’n’roll influence that is not to be missed. Hailed as the ultimate weekend event of cool cars, rockabilly bands and DJs, fashion parades, pinups, vintage bikes, low-rider cycles, art shows, workshops, pinstripers, tattooists, markets and so much more, organisers said this year is stacking up to be the best yet.

Event organiser Lori Lee Cash said that this year was already proving to be the most anticipated yet with tickets being snatched up as soon as they went live.

“GreazeFest 2015 is promising to be better than ever this year with an amazing line-up of bands, musicians, and artists from all around the country and the world,” Mz Cash said.

“It is so exciting for us to be once again packing up the entire Brisbane festival and then taking the event on the road to Melbourne, complete with the international headliners.

“We pride ourselves on delivering the highest standard of entertainment, and this year we also have an amazing selection of local bands from both Brisbane and Melbourne that are being added to the bill and are sure to bring their own flavour to the already strong line-up,” she said.
More than 150 market stalls will also be on display across the weekends including rockabilly hairdressers, barbers, tattooists, vintage sellers, clothing specialists, automotive traders, vinyl records sellers and era photographers.

California’s own ‘Master of the Fine Line’, Von Hot Rod, returns for his third GreazeFest as a special guest to lay stripes and kustom lines. Considered in the top of international professionals of pinstriping, Von Hot Rod will be conducting special pinstriping workshops for dedicated students, and will be striping throughout the two weekends.

Another highlight of GreazeFest is the two day Hot Rod Show with more than 700 hot rods driving from across the nation and the Kustom Art Show displaying Australian paintings, tiki carvings, metal sculptures, photography and pinstriped works.  The pinups and glamour icons of the 1940s and 1950s had a distinct influence on the culture and style of the era, and vintage fashions will be front row at the GreazeFest Fashion Parades and Pinup Parades.  Attracting a broad kaleidoscope of people who share a love for all things rockabilly, everyone is encouraged to join in on the fun with plenty on offer for all ages.

GreazeFest Kustom Kulture Festival 2015
Brisbane – Friday 31 July – Sunday 2 August, Rocklea Showground, 1430 Ipswich Road (Service Road) corner of Goburra Street, Rocklea
Melbourne – Friday 7 August – Sunday 9 August, Sandown Racecourse, 591 – 659 Princes Highway, Springvale
www.greazefest.com

David Bowie is was created by the prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London drawing upon unprecedented access to the David Bowie Archive of costumes, objects, album artwork, and memorabilia. The exhibition includes lyric sheets, hundreds of photographs, stage sets, rare videos, filmed live shows, over 50 costumes and interviews with key collaborators.

Special displays within the exhibition explore Bowie’s influences as musician, stage performer, writer and actor – and his continuing legacy. At its world premiere in London in March 2013, it was the V&A’s fastest selling exhibition and became one of its most popular shows, drawing over 311,000 visitors and widespread critical acclaim.

ACMI Director & CEO, Tony Sweeney, said the landmark exhibition showcases Bowie as a true innovator in music, fashion and culture, and traces his changing style and reinvention.

“The mystery of David Bowie as an enigma is so lovingly explored in this incredible immersive exhibition you’ll feel as if you’ve stepped inside the mind of this astonishing cultural and pop icon,” Tony said. “Bowie is a figure whose social and creative influence and significance far exceeds his status as a pre-eminent rock performer and in David Bowie is, his incredible career is showcased in glorious detail.”

The V&A’s curators, Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh, from the Museum’s Department of Theatre and Performance, selected more than 300 objects and films for the show. Of the exhibition they said:

“The exhibition looks in-depth at how Bowie’s music and radical individualism has both influenced and been influenced by wider movements in art, design, film and contemporary popular culture over an incredible 50-year career and demonstrates how Bowie has inspired others to challenge convention and pursue freedom of expression.”

Bowie’s first major hit Space Oddity (1969) and the introduction of his first fictionalised stage persona Major Tom, inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, granted him critical and commercial success as an established solo artist. His cinematic influences abound with his elaborate storyboards and set design for the Diamond Dogs tour (1974) – originally envisioned as a musical – inspired by Fritz Lang’s film Metropolis (1927), leading him to take the combination of rock music and theatre to new heights.

Excerpts and props from Bowie’s own work in feature films such as Labyrinth (1986) and Basquiat (1996) are displayed in the exhibition, as do many of his ambitious and ground-breaking music videos. The year 1972 marked the birth of his most famous creation; Ziggy Stardust, a daringly androgynous and otherworldly being. A pivotal performance of Starman on Top of the Pops in a multi-coloured suit signalled a challenge of social conventions, daring fans to shape their own identities.

Bowie’s collaborations with artists and designers in the fields of fashion, sound, graphics, theatre, art and film are explored throughout the exhibition. On display are more than 50 stage costumes including Ziggy Stardust bodysuits (1972) designed by Freddie Burretti, Kansai Yamamoto’s flamboyant creations for the Aladdin Sane tour (1973) and the Union Jack coat designed by Bowie and Alexander McQueen for the Earthling album cover (1997).

Bowie’s fruitful experimental period in Berlin between 1977 and 1979 is also explored through a series of pioneering records he produced known as the Berlin Trilogy, including the creation of the stylish Thin White Duke persona identified with the Station to Station album and tour (1976).

More personal items such as never-before-seen storyboards, handwritten set lists and lyrics are also featured in the exhibition as well as some of Bowie’s own sketches, musical scores and diary entries, revealing the evolution of his creative ideas.

ACMI is the exclusive Australasian venue for David Bowie is. The ACMI season will include a specially curated program of talks and special events, late night programs, film screenings and live performances.

“The sheer grandure brought tears to my eyes” – The Daily Telegraph

“Absolutely incredible… fabulous” – Jean Paul Gaultier

“A simple endorsement of pure stardom” – The Independent

David Bowie is
16 July – 1 November 2015
Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne
www.acmi.net.au/exhibitions/bowie

Opening the season is the Australian premiere of And Then There is Naples (E poi c’è Napoli) (2014), in which director Gianluca Migliarotti travels to the epicentre of men’s tailoring. Bespoke Neapolitan trouser maker Salvatore Ambrosi guides audiences through the ancient city of style where he encounters local designers and commentators who offer rare insights into the art of tailoring. Other traditional crafts are explored, which lead to a captivating exchange with a 120-year old Portolano glove maker and a couple of even older luggage and shirt makers.

To complement the first screening of And Then There is Naples, ACMI Film Programmer, James Nolen will host Sartorial Saturday, a two-hour guided walking tour of Melbourne that uncovers the many exquisite products featured in the documentary. A short film by Noel Smyth, titled POP (4 mins) accompanies each screening of And Then There is Naples. POP is a finalist in the VAMFF Film 2015 competition and showcases the latest Melbourne-made menswear collection from Article by Courtney Holm.

In its Australian premiere, Fashion in the 1990s (La mode des années 90) (2014) pays tribute to the decade of stark fashion contrasts, from Helmut Lang’s revolutionary minimalism to Walter Van Beirendonck’s colourful techno tribes. Director, Loïc Prigent (Signé Chanel and Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton) delves deep inside the historical world of fashion, this time casting a spotlight on the 1990s – an era when designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld, Thierry Mugler and Christian Lacroix embraced excess.

Audiences are given extraordinary access to archival footage as Prigent beautifully illuminates a decade marked by important social change and fearless fashion. Fashion in the 1990s screens alongside Crystals and the Postman are a Girl’s Best Friend (3 mins), a short film from accomplished fashion photographer Ellen von Unwerth. Featuring the label Sister by Sibling and Swarovski crystals, the film is a finalist in the VAMFF Film 2015 competition.

Loïc Prigent’s new documentary, The Balmain Style (La Ligne Balmain) (2014) seamlessly interweaves historical footage of founder, Pierre Balmain with the modern day vision of designer, Olivier Rousteing as he lifts the Autumn/Winter 2014 collection from the pages onto the runway. At only 28 years of age, Rousteing has injected a revitalised energy into the hallowed fashion house of Balmain. Established after the Second World War by Pierre Balmain, the label has been worn by fashion icons such as Katherine Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Rihanna.

Premiering in Australia, The Balmain Style illuminates how within only a few seasons, Rousteing has cemented his place in the new guard of fashion designers, re-energising the celebrated fashion houses of Paris. Accompanying the documentary is Julian Lucas’s and Jarred Osborn’s short film and finalist in the VAMFF Film 2015 competition, Aaizel(2 mins). Produced by prolific fashion filmmaker Hannah Bellil and starring models Adhiel Tuba and Nichola Jayne,Aaizel showcases the sculptural designs of Minhee Jo in her second womenswear collection.

Premiering in Australia, Pop Models (Les Mannequins, corps de la mode) (2014) is a documentary from director Olivier Nicklaus (Fashion Pack). It chronicles the transformation of the fashion model from the liberation of Paris after the Second World War, to the rise of the supermodel, through to the 21st century, when a boy from Broadmeadows stole the show.

Fascinating interviews with industry veterans, magazine editors, photographers and the models themselves capture the evolution of the model. Twiggy, Marisa Berenson, Jerry Hall, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Tatjana Patitz, Cara Delevigne and Melbourne’s own Andreja Pejic are just some of the names that reign supreme. Pop Models screens with Cover Girl (4 mins), a short film by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, one of the international finalists in the VAMFF Film 2015 competition. Cover Girl follows Lena Dunham (of Girls fame) as she prepares for her first Vogue cover shoot.

Wrapping up the season is Mademoiselle Agnès and her partner in crime, Loïc Prigent as they round up the latest from the catwalk in the Australian premiere of Dressed up for Summer 2015 (Habillé(e)s pour printemps-été 2015)(2014). From the season’s major parades by Dior and Chanel, to the farewell marathon Miss France-inspired Ready to Wear runway show by Jean Paul Gaultier, these two have it all covered. Moschino’s creative director, Jeremy Scott offers his five cardinal rules of politeness during fashion week, whilst across the pond, 26 year-old Thomas Tait shares the hottest trends from British stalwart, Burberry. Mademoiselle Agnès also takes a look back at 30 years of fashion in her own unique way.

Dressed up for Summer 2015 screens with Palladian (3 mins), a finalist in VAMFF Film 2015 competition stunningly shot by Peter Ryle at Melbourne’s Abbotsford Convent. In filming the diaphanous womenswear of Melbourne label Kuwaii, director Tim White draws inspiration from David Lynch’s Twin Peaks.

Fashion on Film
Saturday 21 February – Sunday 8 March 2015
acmi.net.au/fashion-on-film-2015