REBEL: 30 Years of London Fashion

The exhibition is a landmark collaboration with the British Fashion Council (BFC) and celebrates the 30th anniversary of the BFC’s NEWGEN programme, an initiative that supports the best emerging fashion design talent and aims to build global, high-end brands of the future.

Guest-curated by BFC Ambassador for Emerging Talent Sarah Mower MBE and co-curated by Design Museum Senior Curator Rebecca Lewin, this exhibition tells the story of hundreds of fearless young designers who have transformed the fashion landscape, and brings together exuberant, rebellious and radical garments.

The show features nearly 100 innovative fashion looks from ground-breaking debut and early collections, many of which have entered pop-culture history — and launched global design careers.

Highlights include the swan dress controversially worn by Björk at the 2001 Oscars, Harry Styles’ Steven Stokey Daley outfit from his video for ‘Golden’, and Sam Smith's inflatable latex suit by HARRI from this year’s BRIT Awards. Collections and work by JW Anderson, Wales Bonner, Erdem, Molly Goddard, Christopher Kane, Simone Rocha, Russell Sage, and many more.

These items are shown alongside films, drawings, memorabilia and never-before-seen archive material from some of the most well-known contemporary UK-based designers.