On September 5, Freddie Mercury would have turned 80 years old, had he not died tragically young at just 45 ,back in 1991. In celebration of the Queen singer’s milestone birthday, the V&A has announced a special free exhibition called Freddie Mercury: Splendid Things.
Eight iconic looks worn by the late rock star are going on display at V&A South Kensington from October 24 until January 17. The trail has been developed by Mary Austin, Freddie’s former fiancée, to whom he left his home and a large chunk of his estate before she auctioned off much of it in 2023 for a whopping sum. Mary, who rarely speaks out on her old flame, has lent seven of the looks for the display celebrating his career through his clothing and accessories in his iconic music videos and pop performances.
The V&A teased: “Each of the six stops on the trail will showcase an iconic moment in Mercury’s career, with looks spotlighting his flamboyance, charisma and the multi-disciplinary creativity that helped define his enduring legacy. Each intervention will present some of Freddie’s most memorable looks in dialogue with a unique and dramatic setting in the V&A galleries and will draw synergies with the V&A objects on display, as well as the architecture of the building. Mannequins made specially for the trail will be dynamically posed to reflect Freddie’s charismatic stage presence.
“The looks span the 1970s and 80s and include a striking monochrome ensemble worn by Freddie for an early Queen gig at Imperial college and featured on the cover of Queen’s debut album in 1973, as well as the ‘Mercury Wing’ catsuit designed by Wendy de Smet t hat was worn on stage for Night At the Opera tour, 1975-1976 and seen in the groundbreaking video for Bohemian Rhapsody and his signature crown and cloak designed by Diana Moseley and worn on the Magic Tour including for Freddie’s last stage appearance with Queen at Knebworth, 1986. The looks take us right through to Mercury’s success as a solo star with the costume worn in the Made in Heaven music video. Accessories and items from Mercury’s personal wardrobe also offer a glimpse of the man behind the Mercury persona.
“Designed by award-winning designer Tom Piper – best known for his stage designs in theatre and opera including numerous productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as his Tower of London poppies and V&A exhibition Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser and the Taylor Swift | Songbook Trail – each installation will be distinct and theatrically staged, bringing to life moments in Freddie’s musical career through set dressing and in some spaces – sound and light. There will be a public programme of related events to coincide with the display.”
Mary, herself, shared from the upcoming A Life in Lyrics book, out on September 1: “As the records became more successful and the response grew stronger, his confidence deepened, and his performance settled. What I saw now was an artist continuously developing while the seed of who he was stayed intact. The clothes were part of that exploration. Freddie understood early on that he wasn’t just wearing clothes; he was providing an image to match the scale of the space and the vastness of the crowd. He was there to entertain, and everything about what he wore fed into that.”
She added: “‘As we celebrate Freddie’s 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. Never 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.’”
