’Women Fashion Power’ at London’s Design Museum explores the link between clothing and success

Mannequins modelling a range of clothing
Installation view at 'Women Fashion Power', currently on show at the Design Museum in London.
(Image credit: Mirren Rosie)

A few years ago, Hillary Clinton responded to a journalist asking about her fashion preferences with, 'Would you ask me this question if I were a man?' The journalist's answer was defensive, of course, but the reasons behind Clinton's reaction are much deeper and more interesting than it might seem. Now on show at the Design Museum, Women Fashion Power ('Not a Multiple Choice', says the title's standfirst) examines this tension with a display of garments that have helped shape the identities of strong, successful women over the ages.

It goes without saying that women's fashion has had a much stronger cultural impact throughout history than men's: corsets, trousers, and silhouettes evolving with time. In the past, it was women who were confined to the most restrictive garments, while recently it seems the tables have turned.

Today, women's fashion is loaded with cultural, social and artistic meaning – much more intrinsically than menswear. It drives powerful personalities and contributes directly to their identity. 'This exhibition is very much about the reality of dress,' says Colin McDowell, the fashion journalist who co-curated the exhibition. The show doesn't aim to define a movement, he says, but rather showcase 'how intelligent women take what they need from fashion'.

The exhibition follows two divergent themes, playing on the show's title. At one end, rooms named 'Power and Fashion' and 'Fashion and Women' display a visual history of women's clothing from Eve to the present day, with iconic garments, photographs and historical documents. The third and final room, called 'Women and Power', closes the circle, featuring 26 contemporary women and the clothes they've chosen to represent them.

The diverse group includes women from the fields of politics, culture, entertainment and society, from the singer Skin to Parisian mayor Anne Hidalgo, from art curator Julia Peyton-Jones to architect Zaha Hadid. The garments on display come from their personal closets and are significant for having played a role in their impact on the world.

Hadid also helped shape the show itself. Her interior design - along with graphics by LucienneRoberts+ - supports the work of McDowell and Design Museum curator Donna Loveday. While Hadid's structure plays a pivotal role in dividing the space almost unobtrusively, Roberts' dynamic graphics have no problem shouting with light, colour and Perspex. The exhibition's title inspired Roberts to intersect the three key words, 'women', 'fashion' and 'power', in a moving installation. It's a fitting celebration of the powers on show.

Side view of a mannequin modelling a black and cream two-piece outfit

The exhibition examines the garments that have helped shape the identities of strong, successful women over the ages. 

(Image credit: Mirrin Rosie)

Historical painting beside a black panel of text describing the event

The show follows two divergent themes, playing on the show's title. At one end, rooms named 'Power and Fashion' and 'Fashion and Women' display a visual history of women's clothing from Eve to the present day, with iconic garments, photographs and historical documents. 

(Image credit: Mirrin Rosie)

Large room featuring mannequins modelling a range of outfits, with signs describing the outfit and the woman it represented

The third and final room, called 'Women and Power', closes the circle, featuring 26 contemporary women and the clothes they've chosen to represent them. 

(Image credit: Mirrin Rosie)

Left: model wearing a black and white floral jacket with black skirt, next to a model wearing a red skirt suit. Right: model in a black outfit with orange foil sleeves, next to a model in a cream coat and black trousers

Contributions from Julia Peyton-Jones, Kirsty Wark, Skin and Zaha Hadid, who was also responsible for the exhibition design.

(Image credit: Mirrin Rosie)

A yellow graphic with the words "Women", "Fashion", "Power" appearing to crack the picture

Graphics, meanwhile, come courtesy of design studio LucienneRoberts+. The exhibition's title inspired Roberts to intersect the three key words, 'women', 'fashion' and 'power', in a moving installation.

(Image credit: Richard Hubert Smith)

On a wall, there are illustrations of five women depicting different styles through the ages

At the entrance to the exhibition is an illustration by Ben Wiseman depicting an Edwardian cyclist, a 1920s flapper, a working woman during World War II, a liberated 1960s woman in an Yves Saint Laurent 'Le Smoking' tuxedo suit and a power-suited woman of the 1980s.

(Image credit: Richard Hubert Smith)

Large screens displaying a pair of glittery shoes against a blue background

The show includes an installation of vast, colourful screens with images of statement fashion. 

(Image credit: Mirrin Rosie)

Two pictures hang on a white wall at the beginning to the exhibition, featuring Jane Fonda and Twiggy

Jane Fonda and Twiggy make power poses in the 'Women and Fashion' room. 

(Image credit: Mirrin Rosie)

A white t-shirt with "God save the queen" hangs in a perspex box beside a mannequin wearing a tartan suit

Vivienne Westwood contributed some seminal pieces from her past collections including her 'God Save the Queen' t-shirt (left) from 1977.

(Image credit: Richard Hubert Smith)

A mannequin wearing a black, layered dress beside a mannequin wearing a white t-shirt with the words "Climate Revolution"

A Westwood dress with her 'Climate Revolution' t-shirt from S/S 2013. 

(Image credit: Mirrin Rosie)

Left: Green hat with artificial foliage, a rose, and two butterflies. Middle: Fluffy cream hat which ties beneath the chin. Right: Yellow and black spikes protruding outwards and shaped onto the forehead

A trio of eye-catching hats on display at 'Women Fashion Power'.

(Image credit: Mirrin Rosie)

A mannequin modelling a black shirt and trousers with a crowd-style pattern. Information panels hang on yellow backgrounds

Behind a Perspex screen is an example of affordable fashion from the 1960s, and a photograph from Woodstock. 

(Image credit: Richard Hubert Smith)

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Design Museum
Shad Thames
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SE1 2YD

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Rosa Bertoli was born in Udine, Italy, and now lives in London. Since 2014, she has been the Design Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees design content for the print and online editions, as well as special editorial projects. Through her role at Wallpaper*, she has written extensively about all areas of design. Rosa has been speaker and moderator for various design talks and conferences including London Craft Week, Maison & Objet, The Italian Cultural Institute (London), Clippings, Zaha Hadid Design, Kartell and Frieze Art Fair. Rosa has been on judging panels for the Chart Architecture Award, the Dutch Design Awards and the DesignGuild Marks. She has written for numerous English and Italian language publications, and worked as a content and communication consultant for fashion and design brands.