Earlier this month I enjoyed my first visit to the now officially opened V&A in Juteopolis, aka Dundee! In bringing nature and architecture together, architect Kengo Kuma has created a new 'living room for the city', and what a fantastic living room it is.
Once inside I enjoyed the Scottish Design Galleries where Scotland's design story is explored, historically and today. I loved seeing the Hardy Amies suit made with fabric designed by Bernat Klein - alongside a fantastic range of Aspen furnishing fabrics, also designed by Klein in the 1960s. Another favourite was the Vivienne Westwood designed Harris Tweed suit, which on first glance looked conventional. Looking a bit closer though you could see how Westwood had turned convention on its' head by adding baggy trousers and a full shawl collar to the waistcoat.
Next I headed to the 'Ocean Liners: Speed and Style' exhibition, which might float your boat until 24 February?! The exhibition is an evocative telling of an age of such glamour and style, it is a feast for the senses. Many of the ocean liners featured, including the Queen Mary, Normandie, QE2 and Titanic were worlds in themselves and wow - the posters, paintings, photos, wall panels, furniture and fashion showed us what life on board these floating palaces was like, at least for those who travelled first class.
Take a look at some of my photos below, featuring first the Clydebank-built Queen Mary completing her maiden voyage into New York in 1936. See also some wonderful fashion designs by Hardy Amies, Bernat Klein, Vivienne Westwood, Silveto, Goyard luggage, Christian Dior, Emilio Pucci, Lanvin and Poiret.
The last photo in my blog features (in the background) the still of a film installation in the exhibition called the 'Grande Descente'. These dramatic staircases for social display enabled women to make a glamorous entrance into the dining room in the evening, and were a feature of the first class spaces of ocean liners by the 1910s... no pressure there then! Enjoy.
Credits - all photographs from the exhibitions and the exhibition catalogue.
