200 Years of Australian Fashion

Overview

In the fashion world, Australia is the little engine that could. Due to our isolation from the major fashion centres in Europe and America and our extreme and out of sync seasons, the Aussie fashion landscape has always played by a different set of rules.

To celebrate our identity and history, the National Gallery of Victoria are displaying 200 years of fashion with an exhibition that explores the history of Aussie style — and it goes way beyond the pluggers and footy short combo. Outfits by the contemporary greats that do us proud on the international stage — including Dion Lee, Ellery, Romance Was Born, Toni Maticevski, Pageant and more — will be displayed alongside a retrospective of historic design and a series of interactive pop-up talks to discuss the future identity of the industry.

The exhibition runs over four galleries and will feature an assortment of footage, interviews, photographs and illustrations. It's the perfect exhibition to bone up on your fashion history so you can dominate any blue sweater-wearing plebs who snigger at your outfit, ala Miranda Priestly.