An Essential Tool of Cinema Storytelling
1st October 2012 Fashion takes its cue from many sources, and frequently it is the cinema. Over one hundred of the most iconic costumes designed for unforgettable cinema characters go on display this month at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The collection is a dazzling statement of cinema fashion from classics such as The Wizard of Oz (1939), Gone With the Wind (1939), the memorable ‘little black dress’ designed by Hubert de Givenchy for Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), plus Titanic (1997), and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), amongst others.
The exhibition is meticulously researched, with the clothes placed in their original context, alongside interviews with Hollywood costume designers, directors, and actors, talking about the role costume plays in creating a character. Sourcing, identifying and securing objects required tracking leads worldwide during the past five years. Sir Christopher Frayling, guest curator, said: “The design of costumes for films is a distinctive form of design, which is often taken for granted or misunderstood. This V&A exhibition presents the ideal opportunity to set the record straight – and will do so in the most spectacular way.”
Hollywood Costume Victoria & Albert Museum London 20 October 2012 through 27 January 2013. More details at www.vam.ac.uk JG
Photos: Titanic 20 Century Fox/Paramount/The Kobal Collection
Elizabeth: The Golden Age Universal/Working Title/The Kobal Collection/Greg Williams