With International Creativity Month well underway, let’s kickstart a whole year of creative inspiration with the must-see exhibitions to put in your 2024 calendar. These shows are the cultural-big hitters that will influence fashion and trends, so if you can’t attend IRL - explore them online via museum socials and Youtube channels.
Naomi, Victoria & Albert Museum
LONDON:
The V&A's blockbusters
London’s most fashion-forward museum, the V&A, is already on a roll this year with influential style exhibitions. If you haven’t made it already, make sure you brave the queue to Gabrielle Chanel, Fashion Manifesto and DIVA .
But 2024’s most buzzworthy show will be NAOMI (opening 22 June) - the first-ever exhibition to explore the supermodel’s career, life and, of course, style. The show will delve into her personal wardrobe, picking out some of its most iconic outfits.
DIVA @V&A Museum
London's Rebels at the Design Museum
Last call for fashion lovers in London, is the inspiring exhibition REBEL: 30 Years of London Fashion @Design Museum until 11 Feb. It is a tribute to the 30th anniversary of the BFC’s NEWGEN program, which nurtures emerging talent featuring nearly 100 innovative looks from debut collections.
@Charles Jeffrey Loverboy @Marjan Pejoski
PARIS:
Fashion and Sport for the Olympics
Sport and fashion are increasingly intertwined, and in Paris we will see the two collide as the city hosts the Summer Olympics in July. Just in time, some of its biggest fashion museums are taking the theme and running with them. Visit the Musée des Arts Décoratifs for Fashion and Sports: From one Podium to Another - until April 7. Showcasing nearly 500 items of clothing, magazines, video, accessories and paintings, the exhibition will explore the evolution of sportswear and its influence on fashion, from ancient times to the present day.
Iris van Herpen's sculptural couture
Sculpting the Senses pays tribute to one of the most forward-thinking fashion designers, Iris van Herpen. A pioneer in the use of new technologies, she transgresses conventional clothing norms, while embracing both traditional couture craftsmanship and innovative techniques, with over 100 haute couture pieces made by Iris van Herpen in dialogue with works of contemporary art. It is on show at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs until April 28.
Lacoste couture polo dress by Freaky Debbie, Photographer: David Hugonot Petit, Musée des Arts décoratifs ; Iris van Herpen, in collaboration with Kim Keever, Cosmica minidress, “Shift Souls” collection, 2019, Silk organza, cotton. Iris van Herpen Collection © Dominique Maitre
MILAN:
90s mania with Juergen Teller
The 90s continues to influence fashion trends, and one fashion photographer was at the vanguard of the decade’s creative power: Juergen Teller. The Milan Triennale museum will host the biggest ever retrospective of his work, with some 400 shots including portraits, still lives, plus video and installations from Teller’s archive. Opens January 27.
Self-portrait with pink shorts and balloons, Paris, 2017, Juergen Teller, Triennale
NEW YORK:
The Met Ball exhibition: Sleeping Beauties
New York’s biggest fashion night out, The Met Gala launches every year with an exhibition at the Costume Institute. For this year’s event, the exhibition is titled, Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion. New life will be given to hundreds of garments and accessories from the museum’s collection, using the power of AI, Augmented Reality, light projection, soundscapes and more. The pieces, spanning some four centuries, are all connected by the theme of nature, and given a new dimension thanks to futuristic and immersive technologies. Opens May 10.
Marquee: "Tulipes Hollandaises" evening cloak, Charles Frederick Worth. Image Nick Knight, 2023. The Met Museum.
An ode to women designers at the MET
The MET's Costume Institute is hosting an exhibition dedicated to women designers: 'Women Dressing Women'. The exhibition features some 80 creations by more than 70 designers and aims to celebrate the creativity and legacy of these individuals. In addition, it paints a picture of female fashion houses from the 20th century to the present. Which designers will be spotlighted? Among others, Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons, Gabriela Hearst, Claire McCardell, Miuccia Prada and Vivienne Westwood. Until March 3.
Photograph: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art