Home to a diverse range of arts, both ancient and modern, the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) has been collecting fashion and textiles for more than 120 years, hosting an outstanding collection of exquisite quality and craftsmanship at its premises. This year, it unveils its first and most comprehensive survey of Australian fashion to date: ‘200 Years of Australian Fashion’.
Staged across four galleries at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square, the exhibition features more than 120 works from over 90 designers—a celebration of Australia’s unique voice in the fashion industry. Taking you through the timeline of iconic and milestone moments of the industry, it showcases exceptional designs from the last 200 years, including Australia’s earliest known surviving dress (c1805), a glamorous 1950s blue feathered ball gown by Collins Street salon La Petite, mini-dresses representative of the eclectic colour and experimentation of the 1960s, as well as the work of contemporary designers such as Dion Lee, Ellery, Romance Was Born and Toni Maticevski.
One of the highlights from the exhibition is a newly commissioned work by Dion Lee titled Aperture—a four-metre-tall Swarovski crystal-encrusted gown lit from within, it is an apt demonstration of his conceptual eye and innovative design experimentations.
‘200 Years of Australian Fashion’ will take place at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square from 5 March to 31 July 2016. For more information, visit www.visitmelbourne.com.
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