StreetStyle

Twenty-five years on from the groundbreaking V&A exhibition ‘Streetstyle: From Sidewalk to Catwalk’ comes the spiritual sequel ‘Streetstyle: From Teddy Boys to Grime Kids’. Through a fresh lens, the exhibition explores the evolution of fashion subcultures, featuring portraits of Punks, Skinheads, Ravers and a documentation of today’s Grime scene.

The logo pays homage to its predecessor, resulting in a contemporary interpretation of the original Streetstyle identity. The branding is repeated in various forms throughout the exhibition in a bold palette inspired by the first exhibitions graphic ephemera.

The exhibition offers a glimpse into the curatorial methods used and the obstacles a pre-internet exhibition had to overcome. We presented this journey through a range of media, designing and constructing the signage and way-finding ourselves, ensuring no excess materials were wasted, being as resourceful as possible for the low-budget and temporary nature of the show.

We designed an updated version of the subcultural map penned for the original show, this time showing the links between different fashion exhibitions since 1994, enabling the viewer to chart the evolution of various style tribes and their importance in shaping wider culture in the UK.

Hosted in East London, the birth place of Grime, the exhibition featured rare content from personal archives including notes from the original exhibition’s Skinheads display, Zandra Rhodes’ 'Conceptual Chic' collection and Fiona Cartledge’s 'Sign of the Times' archive, as well as exclusive material capturing the emergence of Grime from Olivia Rose.