Fashion V Sport at the V&A
If you’re in the capital between 5th August 2008 and 4th January 2009 make a visit to the Porter Gallery at the V&A to see the Fashion V Sport exhibition, celebrating the ever developing relationship between the world of style and the global sportswear companies.
Here’s a subject close to our heart at Scotts. We’ve talked a lot about the way companies like Lacoste, Adidas, 55DSL and Henri Lloyd have been able to move their particular brand of high-performance, sports design (so effective in the world’s of tennis, sailing, skating etc.) into creating stylish looks for the modern wardrobe. We’re influenced by the way street style has taken its inspiration from sportswear, by the way people are more likely to wear a track top than a suit these days, and by the way that individuals will take an urban uniform like the trainer, the hood and the tracksuit and make it their own, by customising and adding their own touches.
This exhibition includes all these ideas and more, displaying 60 outfits, photos, drawings and movies in its four sections – Dare, Display, Play and Desire. Dare looks at the crossing of lines between fashion houses and sports wear - designers using sports looks on the catwalk but, in turn, sports companies like Adidas and Puma inviting in designers like Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen to ensure that the style is there as well as the function. In Display and Play see how the push for individuality has influenced designers to customise and add detail by playing around with colour, pattern, art and humour. See Jeremy Scott’s high tops for adidas inspired by the art work of Keith Haring and the customisation work of Dr Romanelli, I-Saw and Nash Money. Finally, Desire deals with obsession – whether that means an obsession with a particular sport, being the avid gatherer of the world’s most expensive trainer and tracksuit collections, the production of extravagant projects like Nike’s £1,400 crocodile skin trainers, or the glossy and sexy images of models and sports stars, in fashion and sportswear advertising that make us all want to possess the look and the lifestyle.
If you can’t make it to the exhibition, the accompanying book of the same name and edited by Ligaya Salazar is well worth a look and is a great gift for street style aficionados.
