Valentino at Somerset House

Fashion exhibitions have been popular in 2012 and the trend doesn’t seem to be getting tired heading into 2013. The V & A Ballgown exhibition proved hugely popular for museum fans craving elegance and decadence in austere times, and their latest Hollywood Costumes collection is already selling out. It seems the more we are hit with tightening our belts, the more we crave glamour and nostalgia as escapism from very difficult times. The latest designer offering from Somerset House – Valentino: Master of Couture offers the same escape route: ballgowns and haute couture times 100 (over 130 to be precise) - tulle, taffeta, broderie anglaise everywhere. An homage to the Italian fashion powerhouse’s fifty years in the business – it has all bases covered for design fans and the layperson, and makes excellent use of his signature Valentino red.

Walking in past the ice rink I was already in high spirits anticipating the curation and layout. I wasn’t disappointed. If you take the stairs down to the exhibition space, an exceptionally red trail of material hangs from the ceiling to the floor of the spiral staircase, leading you into the luxury of the clothes. Glass cases give a snapshot of Valentino’s life through correspondence, photos and documents from celebrities, business partners and major players in the fashion world. I loved seeing Karl Lagerfeld and Anna Wintour’s two inch high handwriting, and Meryl Streep apologising for not being able to go and see a show because she was heavily pregnant. Thank you cards and keepsakes give an insight into the private world of a very public man.

The words and pictures stopped and the craftmanship took over. The layout was unique – visitors view dresses from the point of view of the catwalk, with a variety of coloured mannequins displaying the gowns either side, placed amongst chairs marked with the names of celebrities who have graced his shows for the past fifty years. Dresses are separated into sections by colour for each decade.  The dresses with the stories stuck out the most for me – Jackie O’s wedding dress to Aristotle Onassis, an Audrey dress and Julia Robert’s Oscar dress. Fashion students were feverishly sketching designs and detail, the usual requests not to take photos fell on deaf ears – they were too beautiful to resist sneaking the phone out one more time. I recommend walking up and down a few times, otherwise it all gets a bit too much to take in.

After the gowns comes the stunning final section, with the beautifully lit wedding dress of Princess Marie Chantal of Greece and some of the most intricate beading and stitching I have ever seen. There is also history mixed with technology - audiovisual of interviews with Valentino himself and his partner Giancarlo Gianmetti, a virtual museum gives more context to the gowns and their place in fashion history. Valentino explains why he gave up in 2007 – too many conglomerates, nothing left to prove. This exhibition certainly confirms that.