{"id":603719,"date":"2026-08-25T02:30:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T02:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/603719\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T02:30:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T02:30:15","slug":"freddie-mercurys-iconic-costumes-to-be-displayed-at-new-london-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/603719\/","title":{"rendered":"Freddie Mercury\u2019s iconic costumes to be displayed at new London exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A selection of Freddie Mercury<\/a>\u2019s costumes<\/a> is going on display at the V&A<\/a> to mark what would have been the Queen frontman<\/a>\u2019s 80th birthday.<\/p>\n

The free temporary trail, Freddie Mercury Splendid Things, will showcase eight of his looks and is inspired by a statement he made in 1978, where he said: “I like to be surrounded by splendid things. I want to lead a Victorian life surrounded by exquisite clutter.”<\/p>\n

Created alongside his former fiancee and close friend Mary Austin, the trail celebrates Mercury\u2019s career through costumes and accessories that featured in some of his music videos and performances.<\/p>\n

Austin has loaned seven of these looks to the V&A for the upcoming display.<\/p>\n

Each of the six stops on the trail will showcase a stand-out moment in Mercury\u2019s career, with the V&A saying the looks will \u201cspotlight his flamboyance, charisma and the multi-disciplinary creativity that helped define his enduring legacy\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Mercury,Mercury, who was born Farrokh Bulsara on September 5 1946, was a founding member of pop rock band Queen (PA)<\/p>\n

The looks span the 1970s and 80s and include a monochrome ensemble that he wore for an early Queen gig at Imperial College and which also featured on the cover of Queen\u2019s debut album in 1973.<\/p>\n

Another outfit is the \u2018Mercury Wing\u2019 catsuit designed by Wendy de Smet that he wore on stage for the Night At The Opera tour in 1975, as well as in the \u201cBohemian Rhapsody<\/a>\u201d music video.<\/p>\n

His crown and cloak designed by Diana Moseley and worn on the Magic Tour, including for Mercury\u2019s final stage appearance with Queen at Knebworth in 1986, also features.<\/p>\n

The V&A has said the accessories also featured in the display \u201coffer a glimpse of the man behind the Mercury persona\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mannequins made specially for the trail will also be posed to reflect Mercury\u2019s stage presence.<\/p>\n

There will also be a public programme of related events to coincide with the display.<\/p>\n

V&A senior curator of theatre and performance Kate Bailey said: \u201cWe are thrilled to display Freddie\u2019s most iconic costumes at the V&A, celebrating one of the greatest performers and songwriters of all time. Reflecting his love of \u2018splendid things\u2019 and his passion for art, design and fashion, Freddie will be very at home in the V&A galleries.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JohnJohn Deacon, Roger Taylor, Brian May and Freddie Mercury in the 1970s (PA)<\/p>\n

Austin added: \u201cAs we celebrate Freddie\u2019s legacy in what would have been his 80th year, the clothes and costumes to be displayed at the V&A tell a hugely important part of his story both on and off the stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever mere accoutrements, his costumes and clothes were essential to his performances, creative vision, and wider self-expression, carefully designed to create a lasting visual and emotional impact that has reached across the generations and still reverberates today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mercury, who was born Farrokh Bulsara on September 5 1946, was a founding member of pop rock band Queen<\/a>, which went on to have six UK number one singles and 10 UK number one albums.<\/p>\n

Some of their best-known songs include \u201cKiller Queen\u201d, \u201cCrazy Little Thing Called Love\u201d and \u201cWe Are The Champions\u201d.<\/p>\n

In 1985, Mercury released his only solo studio album, Mr Bad Guy, and went on to release Barcelona in 1988, a collaborative album with Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballe. He had six UK top 10 singles as a solo artist.<\/p>\n

He died from bronchial pneumonia resulting from Aids aged 45.<\/p>\n

Freddie Mercury Splendid Things runs from October 24 until January 17 2027, at the V&A South Kensington.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603720,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,255929,61,60,278,127936],"class_list":["post-603719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-freddie-mercury-splendid-things","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-music","tag-pa2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}