The V&A announces its key style exhibition for 2018; 'Fashioned from Nature'

Caroline Leaper
Updated
Emma Watson wearing a Calvin Klein gown made from recycled plastic bottles at the 2016 Met Gala - Getty Images North America
Emma Watson wearing a Calvin Klein gown made from recycled plastic bottles at the 2016 Met Gala - Getty Images North America

London’s Victoria and Albert Museum has this morning announced its next blockbuster fashion exhibition; an in-depth look at the advancement of the sustainable fashion industry.

Fashioned from Nature, which will open on 21st April 2018, will examine the complex relationship between fashion and the natural world, looking at how designers from Christian Dior to Dries van Noten have drawn inspiration from the beauty of animals and flowers, as well as the ways that the heavy production demands of the industry have damaged the environment.

300 objects will go on display, including sustainably-produced outfits by Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood, and a Calvin Klein red carpet dress made from recycled plastic bottles, which was worn by actress Emma Watson at the 2016 Met Gala.

A section of the exhibit, the V&A says, will be dedicated to showcasing innovation, with regenerated materials made from everything from household waste to pineapple fibres. A leather-substitute produced by Vegea using grape waste from the wine industry will be on display, alongside an outfit designed by Italian luxury house Ferragamo, made from an orange fibre derived from waste from the Italian citrus industry.

Stylish sustainable fashion buys

Protests are also to form a strong part of the narrative, with an outfit worn by designer Vivienne Westwood at a climate change protest expected to sit beside one from Katharine Hamnett’s 1989 ‘Clean Up or Die’ collection. A display of posters and slogan t-shirts will also serve to highlight the movements and groups who are challenging the credentials of the industry.

Fashioned from Nature will run before the V&A’s other slated 2018 fashion offering, an exhibition which will pay homage to the artist Frida Kahlo, and follows a string of successes for the museum including Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear, which ran from April 2016 to March 2017, and Shoes: Pleasure and Pain, from June 2015 to January 2016. The museum’s current showcase, Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion, is currently on display, until February 2018.

Fashioned from Nature, sponsored by the European Confederation of Flax and Hemp,will be open from 21 April 2018 – 27 Jan 2019.