Earlier this year, i visited the 'Crown to Couture' Exhibition at Kensington Palace.
The exhibition features 200 objects on display in the King and Queen's State Apartments and Piggott Galleries exploring the parallels between red carpet fashion and the Royal Court in the 18th Century.
One of the early comparisons on show was through the decoration of garments, particularly with florals and embroidery. For example, a Spitalfields Silk Court Gown from 1750-53 was paired with Anna Wintour's 2021 Met Gala dress designed by Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia for Oscar de la Renta. Any garment with detail or embellishment worn at court would be a symbol of power and status, so it does seem very fitting that a court garment is paired with something belonging to Anna Wintour (arguably one of the most powerful female fashion editors in history) and her dress features prominent floral decoration.
Moving through the spaces, the decorative elements shift to beads and 'sparkle'.
There is a great series of mood boards showing the development of Billy Porter's red carpet looks by Sam Ratelle. The boards feature sketches, accessories, fitting photos all showing how the look came to life. These pieces were very elaborate and fit very well with others in the same space.
One of those other pieces was Kendal Jenner's Met Gala dress from 2021, designed by Matthew M. Williams for Givenchy. This also was an elaborately beaded piece but drew notes from Audrey Hepburn's looks from My Fair Lady. Although I felt the shape linked to the famous Givenchy outfit from the movie, i felt the beading was more 1920s-30s glamour and highlighted the silhouette of the piece very well.
Another larger stateroom was filled with multiple red carpet gowns and outfits from recent years. From stars of music, stage and screen, iconic Met Gala and red carpet looks took pride of place in these opulent surroundings.
Left to right: Versace - worn by Colman Domingo; Thom Browne - worn by Lizzo; Jeremy Scoot for Moschino - worn by Katy Perry
Left to right: Oscar De La Renta - worn by Billie Eilish; Christopher John Rogers - worn by Lady Gaga; Versace - worn by Blake Lively
Left to right: Jonathan Anderson for Loewe - worn by Daniel Levy; Wes Gordon for Caroline Herrera - worn by Lena Waithe; Giles Deacon - worn by Billy Porter
Blake Lively's gown was one of my favourites. Designed to represent various landmarks in New York (Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and Grand Central Station), the dress began in copper before being unfurled to represent the oxidised green that the metal changes to over time. As entrances go, it was quite epic.
One outfit was given its own room which included a throne! The legendary Beyonce loaned her 2017 Grammy Awards look by Peter Dundas for this exhibition and the dress is filled with symbolism. The embroidery features her lyrics from 'Love Drought', cherubs dressed in ivy link to her first born child Blue-Ivy Carter; and sun rays symbolise 'Oshun' the African goddess of fertility, beauty and love.
Another interesting look was the piece worn by Emma Watson to the Earthshot prize ceremony in 2021. Created by Harris Reed, its made from upcycled wedding dresses from Oxfam as part of the 'FOUND' collection. The top that Watson wore was customised to suit her as she is a long-time supporter of wearing sustainable pieces and brands.
The exhibition wanders around a lot of the palace but at times i felt it was quite disjointed. Each room seemed to look at a different theme, which in itself was fine - the relationships between modern, historical and court garments were clear to see. However, once one room or a series of rooms had been explored, to look at the remainder of the exhibition spaces, we had to follow directions to another area of the palace, wandering into other non-exhibition areas. This made it difficult to follow the theme of the exhibition from area to area.
However, the exhibition is well worth seeing as the array of garments on display are nicely curated and can be viewed clearly. To find out more about the exhibition and some behind the scenes footage, take a look at Kensington Palaces website:
Crown to Couture | Kensington Palace | Historic Royal Palaces (hrp.org.uk)
