OUGD502 - Studio Brief 01 - Five Centuries of Fashion at Chatsworth

Dowager Duchess of Devonshire & Stella Tennant, Chatsworth House, British Vogue, 2006 © Mario Testino

Today I went to look around the highly anticipated 5 Centuries of Fashion exhibition at Chatsworth House which has been sponsored by Gucci. It was a truly stunning display of historical fashion design dating back across the last 500 years. Despite the clothes being the main attraction I was really impressed by the staging of the exhibition and various examples of set design and graphics used to display the items in the most effective way possible.

The exhibition was six years in the making, and was curated by various big names in the fashion industry such as American Vogue editor Hamish Bowles and set designer and art director Patrick Kinmonth. The grand rooms of the house had been filled with couture designer dresses; tiaras and headdresses; christening and wedding gowns; coronation robes; livery and uniforms along with a wealth of ephemera from some of histories' most famous women.

Kinmonth, the polymathic set designer and art director oversaw the creative direction and design of the exhibition with art director Antonio Monfreda, with whom he worked on Valentino: Master of Couture at Somerset House in 2012, among other exhibitions.

'The idea for House Style began when Lady Burlington, the current daughter-in-law of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, was searching the Chatsworth textiles archive for a christening gown for her son, James. She found hundreds of boxes in storage, all filled with clothing and textiles amassed over the centuries, she invited Hamish Bowles, to take a look. After a number of years, it was decided that the collection was worthy of its own exhibit. The exhibit was also curated with creative direction and design by Patrick Kinmonth and Antonio Monfreda.' - Forbes

These were my favourite parts of the exhibition: 

One room feature life-size cut outs of old black and white photographs - blown up and printed onto clear vinyl with light shining behind them to illuminate the ghostly figures. The photographs were taken at a fancy dress party hosted by the Duke and Dutchess of Devonshire at that time. I thought it was a really clever piece of set design as it filled the room with amazing images of the elaborate costumes which would have each been worth thousands of pounds. Each cut out was accompanied by a smaller version with the accompanying information, allowing the figures in the room to take centre stage. 

Beautiful silk gown with embroidered animal and fish print. 

Antique floral embroidered dress. 

Floral embroidered dress by Gucci. 

Ball gown worn by Georgiana, one of the most famous Duchesses of Devonshire.  

All in all it was an amazing exhibition. It also showcased how graphic design and set design are an important part of any exhibition, displaying and presenting the work and in this case fashion pieces to their maximum potential.