Past Exhibition Ran from 21 April 2018 to 27 January 2019

Fashioned from Nature

The first UK exhibition to explore the complex relationship between fashion and nature from 1600 to the present day

Inspiring V&A show determined to incite change

Karen Dacre, Evening Standard

This exhibition is now closed at V&A South Kensington

This exhibition presented fashionable dress alongside natural history specimens, taxidermy and unprocessed plant and animal fibres, inviting visitors to think about the materials of fashion and the sources of their clothes.

Supported by

From grower to point of sale, the European Confederation of Flax and Hemp – CELC – brings together all players in the European flax fibre industry. Founded in 1951, CELC is the specialist representative of 10,000 enterprises in 14 European countries, overseeing the fibre, from plant to finished product. Its reach extends internationally by stimulating innovation and building on the values of natural fibres with established environmental qualities.

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Exhibition Highlights

Waistcoat, 1780 – 1789, France. Museum no. T.49-1948. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Mantua, 1760s, France. Museum no. T.252 to C-1959. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Evening coat, Alix (Madame Grès), 1936, France. Museum no. T.234-1976. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Trouser suit
Trouser suit, Bruno Pieters for Honest By, 2017, Belgium. Museum no. T.1702:1&2-2017. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Muslin day dress decorated with beetle wing cases, 1868-9, Britain. Museum no. T.1698:1 to 5-2017. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Hat of suede and Himalayan monal pheasant (Lophophorus impejanus), Lucienne Rabaté for Reboux, 1946, France. Museum no. T.384-1974. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
‘Clean Up or Die’ man’s ensemble, Katharine Hamnett, 1989, Britain. Ankle boots by Shellys. Museum no. T.208 to E-1990. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
‘Rootbound # 2’ dress, Diana Scherer, 2017, Netherlands. © Diana Scherer.
Skirt with train, about 1890, England. Museum no. T.35-1950. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Outfit made from leather off-cuts and surplus yarn, Katie Jones, 2017. Photograph by Rachel Mann.
Jacket and trousers, John Malkovich, 2017, France. Shoes, Christian Louboutin, 2018, Italy. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Ensemble, Stella McCartney, Winter 2017. © Stella McCartney.
Calvin Klein Green Carpet Challenge dress worn by Emma Waston to the MET Gala 2016. © Matt Baron/REX/ Shutterstock.
Jacket and jeans of Cradle to Cradle Certified™ denim at the Gold Level, shirt and boots, G-Star RAW, 2018, Netherlands. © G-Star RAW.

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Background image: Fashioned from Nature, 2018. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London