"Fashion An Anthology" 1971 collection BEATON, Cecil (SIGNÉ)

Signed in ink by Beaton to front wrapper

GINSBURG, Madeleine [catalogue compiled by]

Foreword by John Pope-Hennessy

[78] pp.

V&A Museum

1971

9 5/8" x 7 1/4"

Fashion: an Anthology by Cecil Beaton, was displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London from October 1971 to January 1972. Beaton procured from wealthy and stylish friends (mostly female) carefully selected glamourous gowns (often haute couture), and designers were asked for ensemble as well. In the end, he had gathered for the museum over 800 individual items, of which about a third was displayed. The exhibition designer Michael Haynes worked with Beaton to construct a modern, yet elegant and romantic vision of fashion.

In October 1971 the exhibition Fashion. An Anthology by Cecil Beaton opened at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Several months earlier Beaton had proposed to the V&A's director John Pope-Hennessy that he would form, on behalf of the museum, ‘a collection of those dresses that he most admired.' Beaton spent many hours persuading friends, acquaintances and designers to donate clothes that represented the best of twentieth-century couture. The resulting show set a new standard for fashion exhibitions and led to a substantial enlargement of the museum's fashion collection. The accompanying catalogue features an introduction and photographs by Beaton.