As a university student we are encouraged to enrich our brains through the form of museums, exhibitions and popup events. I love going up to London so any excuse to have a look round and I'm all for it. I saw that the Victoria and Albert Museum often have fashion based exhibitions, and their newest - "Fashion From Nature" was available to go and see. I decided to document my day as well as take some pictures of the exhibition to share on here.
Here are images from the V&A
These are T-shirts being sold outside of the exhibition. They are made by People Tree and are constructed using sustainable cotton, specifically made for the exhibition. This highlights the themes of using natural resources in a sustainable way which is apparent in the exhibition.
This is a close up shot of real Ostrich feathers which were used as embellishments on garments in the exhibition. I cannot express enough how stunning they were. They looked like they had been carefully constructed, each individual piece placed so perfectly. They looked amazingly soft too - just a shame they were on a garment instead of the animal itself...
I felt like this piece of text at the exhibition helped to explain the growth (and destruction) which the textile industry has caused. The growth in population has resulted in mass produced garments, which have sever implications for the environment.
This dress was designed by Jean Paul Gaultier. It took 1600 hours to create and is made of thousands of tiny beads which mimics the texture off fur. When I first saw this dress I was startled. I thought it was a real animal draped over the dress which quite frankly I found disgusting and quite the political statement. However, upon reading about the dress I fully understood what it stood for and why it was created.
I felt this piece really resinated with me. It has connotations to music as well as the current environmental issues. This play on words I feel helps to emphasise the phrase which therefore will make us remember it, as well as the deeper message it also conveys.
This was one of the most powerful pieces of advertising I've seen in a long while. It is both haunting and disturbing but helps to drill in the message. Controversially, I also quite like the way it demonises people who buy fur - there is no excuse to buy real fur and this image is still relevant today.
If you have the opportunity to visit the V&A Museum to see this exhibition I really do recommend it. Even if you're not a major fashion person, this is something which is affecting all of us. The clothes we wear (whether you're a conscious fashion person or not) are having major impacts on the environment and materials derived from nature. Go and visit and see it for yourself.