It’s been eight years since the institution’s last large-scale fashion display
After hosting shows on Viktor & Rolf, Japanese fashion and Jean Paul Gaultier in the late 2000s and 2010s, the Barbican is returning to fashion programming in 2025 with the Dirty Looks exhibition, opening in September. The show will look beyond conventional beauty to see how the contemporary fashion world has embraced wear, tear, dirt and distress, and what this means for the future of fashion.
Traditionally viewed as beautiful and glamorous, over the last fifty years luxury fashion has been exploring how dirt and decay can provoke and empower, through pieces like pre-scuffed shoes, stained jeans and ruined romantic gowns. Dirty Looks will track the varied ways this dirty aesthetic has been presented, with works from over 60 designers on show.
Alongside pieces from the likes of Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, ACNE Studios, John Galliano, and Maison Margiela, the exhibition will feature bespoke commissions from Hussein Chalayan, Ma Ke, Yuima Nakazato and Bubu Ogisi of IAMISIG, as well as works from emerging designers such as Paolo Carzana, Alice Potts, Michaela Stark, Solitude Studios and Yaz XL.
Speaking about the exhibition, Shanay Jhaveri, Head of Visual Arts at the Barbican, said: “In a commitment to London’s thriving ecology of fashion designers, students and creative communities, Dirty Looks initiates a regular series of fashion exhibitions at the Barbican that will aspire to explore and celebrate innovation between fashion and other artistic disciplines. By focusing on a plurality of practices and established as well as emerging design voices from around the world, this programme aims to rethink what fashion’s contribution to society can be.”
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Key Information
Dates | Thurs 25th September 2025 – Sun 25th January 2026
Address | Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS
For more information | barbican.org.uk