Grace Kelly - Style Icon: Private view
Interviewer: Jenny Lister, you' re the curator of Grace Kelly, Style Icon. Can you tell me a little bit about the show, please?
Jenny Lister: Well it tells the story of Grace' s contribution to fashion really. We were delighted that we could get the dresses over from Monaco. I was given the privilege of choosing them all in the palace and it' s really appropriate that they' ve come to the V& A where we could put them in context with the couture collections in the galleries already. And then, of course, we can explore the reasons why Grace Kelly has become this style icon and I think she' s one of the few people that deserve the title.
Interviewer: Her style was quite simple, actually. What is then that made her stand out - special?
Jenny Lister: She wore very simple, classic styles, you' re right. In the 50s it was all about these tight waisted shirt dresses, little twin sets, things that were quite accessible, things that other people were wearing as well. But she wore them so well. She really understood how to flatter her own beauty and she worked with costume designers who really understood clothes and used them as a language, I think.
Interviewer: How much of her style do you think comes from Hollywood and how much of it from herself and how much of it from Europe?
Jeffrey Kurland: Oh, I like to think a lot of it came from Hollywood. I certainly hope that her following a lot of it comes from Hollywood and certainly in the broad appeal. I think that the great costume designers created work for her and clothing for her stand above the others. She certainly puts them in a pantheon.
Interviewer: Edith Head was Grace Kelly' s costume designer, can you tell me a bit about that?
Deborah Nadoolman: Well, Edith Head and Helen Rose played a very important part in Grace Kelly' s life because they helped shape her look, on stage and off. And I think that everyone knows that Helen Rose designed her beautiful wedding gown. I' d also like to say, she had this tremendous feeling about Edith Head and they had worked closely together for many, many years. For her Oscar-winning role which was in ' The Country Girl' she wanted to ... she felt that for the character she had to de-glamorise herself and make herself look unattractive or plain and she did ...
John Landis: Which for Grace Kelly was hard to do.
Deborah Nadoolman: With Edith Head' s help, they created a character which then won the Oscar for ' Best Actress' that year.
Interviewer: Very simple, her style.
Nancy Dell' Olio: Very simple ... most of the time elegant that accounts for simplicity. Even ... I think she was a complicated person away, she was very intelligent, very articulate ... definitely ... elegant and simple.
Erin O' Connor: What I love about her was she was always so dignified. She had quietly good taste, I think. She didn' t really instigate fashion with an eagle eye, she sort of just was and I think designers and costume makers flocked to her because of the presence that she had. It was effervesence.
Interviewer: What was her best look do you think?
Erin O' Connor: Oh, controversial. It has to be her wedding dress. She really did look incredibly sexy in a very austere, untouchable way. I think that was very clever.
Interviewer: What was her best look do you think?
Sir Paul Smith: I personally liked when she got married, because I think sometimes she didn' t seem so relaxed in some of the photographs, but in her wedding dress she looked really tranquil and very lovely.
Interviewer: She was brilliant with accessories, wasn' t she?
Sir Paul Smith: The famous bag which has gone on to be coveted by many, many ladies around the world. Apparently it takes as long as having a baby to order a special one from Hermes, so ... the Kelly bag went on to be famous and of course her jewels and everything about her really.
Stanislas de Quercize: Why are we fascinated by her style in 2010 when her wedding was, after all, the past century in 1955? This is because she had the taste to spot, select and order specific timeless designs and patterns that will stay forever.
Interviewer: Joan Collins, as a style icon yourself, can you tell us what it was about Grace Kelly that made her one?
Joan Collins: I think it was her choice of tremendous simplicity, but rather glamorous in a laid back, stylish, 1950s way. She was the 1950s. And she didn' t go over the top, but she was very beautiful and had a great figure. She was just known as a very great actress and Academy Award winner. She was not particularly known for her clothes. A lot of women dressed like that in those days, but I think because of her great beauty she shone.
Interviewer: Very clever with her accessories. She had her sunglasses. She had her white gloves.
Joan Collins: Yes, the white gloves - everybody had white gloves and I totally approve of the sunglasses.
Interviewer: What was your style at that point?
Joan Collins: Beatnik.
Interviewer: Bit more fun?
Joan Collins: Yes.
Interviewer: 50s style is sort of making a slight comeback on the television in the shape of ' Mad Men' . Is that making an impact in popular fashion culture?
Jenny Lister: I think it is. Back to those clean lines and the classic styles. Also the goddess dresses Princess Grace wore as well. I' ve seen those on catwalk shows, Lanvin and that sort of thing. And also pastels and lace, those are in the shops again too. Grace wore these styles that were classics, they come round again, but she wore them with such style, I think that' s why she' s become the name that everyone remembers.
Interviewer: Is that 50s and 60s slightly ' Mad Men' look ...
Erin O' Connor: Oh, now isn' t that being bandied around tonight! I don' t know if I want to put them together, but I know that Mrs Prada has really enjoyed and embraced the resurgence of prim over being overtly sexual and I think she' s right that women today need to take that as an all-important lesson that sensuality is probably the biggest provocative power any woman can have.
Interviewer: Is that her legacy today, do you think?
Erin O' Connor: I hope so. I' d like to say that it is.
