New exhibitions opening at V&A Dundee in 2026
A major new fashion exhibition making its UK debut in Scotland and an exhibition celebrating disabled design and culture will be shown at V&A Dundee next year.
Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show (3 April 2026 – 17 January 2027), dedicated to the phenomenon of the fashion show, is V&A Dundee’s major exhibition for 2026.
Fashion shows have grown from intimate salon presentations to global spectacles generating dazzling images shared worldwide. Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show will trace the evolution of the catwalk from the private fashion salons of the late 19th century to today’s live-stream experiences documenting over 100 years of fashion show history.
Spotlighting their creativity, energy and impact, the exhibition brings together landmark examples from renowned fashion houses such as Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, Maison Margiela, Prada, Paco Rabanne, Viktor & Rolf, Louis Vuitton and Yoji Yamamoto, amongst others. Exploring the history and cultural significance of the runway, Catwalk will document seminal moments in fashion, including the theatrical spectacles seen at Alexander McQueen and dramatic show settings such as Fendi at the Great Wall of China, Dior’s takeover of Drummond Castle Gardens in Perthshire and Chanel’s staging of a rocket launch.
From ’60s subcultures to fashion in a digital age, fashion shows are epic creative endeavours, blending many different design disciplines – architecture, lighting, music, film, makeup, hairdressing, jewellery, set design and fashion – into carefully choreographed fleeting sequences with models centre-stage. In Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show, the catwalk through the changing eras will be brought to life with film and photographs, original collection pieces, stage props and a wealth of archival material, creating a vivid experience of the catwalk from its beginnings to the present day.
Kirsty Hassard, co-curator of Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show at V&A Dundee, said: “Fashion shows are more than just moments on a runway – they’re defining moments in culture that reflect the spirit of their time, bringing together a multitude of different design disciplines including hair and makeup, set design, lighting, photography and many more.
“This UK-first exhibition is a celebration of over 100 years of catwalk history, exploring the underlying dreams and motivations behind the catwalk concepts, revealing how they’ve shaped not only what we wear, but how we see ourselves.”
Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show is a new exhibition by the Vitra Design Museum and V&A Dundee, showing at Vitra Design Museum from 18 October 2026 – 15 February 2027, before travelling to V&A Dundee for its UK debut from 3 April 2026 – 17 January 2027.
Tickets for Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show at V&A Dundee will go on sale in February 2026.
A richly illustrated catalogue will accompany the show, conceived as an A-Z of the fashion show.
Design and Disability, an exhibition that centres disability as an identity and culture through design will travel from V&A South Kensington to V&A Dundee, opening on 4 June 2026.
Showcasing the radical contributions of Disabled, Deaf, and neurodivergent people to contemporary design and culture from 1940s to now, Design and Disability is both a celebration of Disabled-led design and a call for action, affirming the importance of embedding the experiences and expertise of Disabled people in design processes.
Around 170 objects will be on display across three sections – Visibility, Tools and Living – spanning design, art, architecture, fashion and photography. It will show how Disabled people have designed for every aspect of life through their own experience and expertise, tracing the political and social history of design and disability. Through examples of disability-first practices showcasing the work of Disabled people and collaborators, the exhibition will demonstrate how design can be made more equitable and accessible and aim towards design justice.
The exhibition will also explore the rich history of Disabled designers challenging ableism in the design industry, as well as the practitioners working today to ‘hack’ pre-existing design to make it more usable. Industry-leading commercial design such as the world’s first commercially made adaptive Xbox controller by Microsoft and the original prototypes of the OXO Good Grips proposed by Betsey and Sam Farber with Smart Design will be on display alongside DIY objects made in the home and zines produced by digital collectives, challenging our ideas of who society might view as a ‘designer’.
Natalie Kane, Curator of Design and Disability at the V&A, said: “This exhibition shows how disabled people are the experts in their own lives, and have made invaluable contributions to our designed world. Design and Disability aims to honour Disabled life as it engages with creative practice, presenting a strong culture of making that has always been central to Disabled identity. In putting this show together it is an act of joy and resistance.”
Design and Disability will open on 4 June 2026 at V&A Dundee.
