This curated guide to the best fashion exhibitions London has to offer spans iconic institutions – V&A, Barbican, Tate Britain, the National Portrait Gallery, Kensington Palace and The King’s Gallery – alongside independents such as the Fashion and Textile Museum, Arches London Bridge, Coal Drops Yard and the Fan Museum. It charts what is open now through 2025 and what has been announced for 2026. It covers jewellery, couture history, royal dress, image-making, subculture and screen costume. Each recommendation includes the venue information and run dates, a sharp overview, who will get the most from it, and a direct booking link . Consider this your practical, high-low map of the capital’s cultural fashion calendar.
Fashion exhibitions London has on in 2025 and 2026
Cartier
V&A South Kensington – until 16 November 2025
An opulent sweep through the maison’s design language, from belle-époque garlands to hard-edged Deco and the Toussaint panther. Expect tiaras with real provenance, red-carpet lore and the sort of craft detail that reads like a manifesto for modern luxury.
Must-see for: High-jewellery devotees, fashion historians, anyone who wants to understand how accessories shape silhouette and status.
More info and booking page: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/cartier
The Edwardians: Age of Elegance
The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace – 11 April to 23 November 2025
A jewel-box timeline of the decade that bridges bustle and modernity – society portraits, couture, and the beginnings of fashion as mass media. A tonal primer for today’s quiet-luxury preoccupations.
Must-see for: Heritage-leaning labels, jewellery clients, lovers of Hartnell-to-Amies British polish.
More info and booking page: https://www.rct.uk/exhibitions/the-kings-gallery-buckingham-palace/the-edwardians-age-of-elegance
Dress Codes: The Fashions of Court
Kensington Palace – 13 March to 30 November 2025
From corsets to court trains, Historic Royal Palaces opens up its dress archives to map etiquette, access and power through clothing. Narrative-rich curation and rooms that do half the scenography for you.
Must-see for: Luxury brand clients mining ceremonial dress for silhouette and messaging cues.
More info and booking page: https://www.hrp.org.uk/kensington-palace/whats-on/dress-codes/
Rethinking Fashion Image
Coal Drops Yard Lightboxes (King’s Cross) – until 5 January 2026
Nine CSM voices remap fashion photography for the public realm – identity, labour, diaspora and place. It is small, fresh and free – and a useful counterpoint to the museum blockbusters above.
Must-see for: Creative-industry recruiters scouting next-gen image-makers; editorial teams hungry for new signatures.
More info and booking page: https://www.kingscross.co.uk/whats-on/rethinking-fashion-image/
Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World
National Portrait Gallery – 9 October 2025 to 11 January 2026
The first major museum show to focus on Beaton’s fashion photography – salon elegance, Jazz-Age wit and the star system being born in front of his lens. A crash course in how image-makers authored twentieth-century style.
Must-see for: Photographers, stylists and anyone who knows a Vogue masthead line-by-line.
More info and booking page: https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/2025/cecil-beaton/
Dirty Looks: Desire and Decay in Fashion
Barbican Art Gallery – 25 September 2025 to 25 January 2026
A wickedly smart thesis on ruin and glamour – mud-splashed tulle, distressed denim, McQueen to Margiela – arguing that “dirty” is a valid design strategy and a riposte to sterile, screen-polished perfection.
Must-see for: Creative directors, sustainability leads, students interrogating beauty codes beyond the gloss.
More info and booking page: https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2025/event/dirty-looks
Design and Disability
V&A South Kensington – until 15 February 2026
An inclusive, design-led survey that folds fashion into broader accessibility debates – from adaptive garments to prosthetics as personal style. Not a runway blockbuster, but essential context for where design culture is heading.
Must-see for: Designers and brand teams rethinking fit, fastenings and UX for the body.
More info and booking page: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/design-and-disability
Lee Miller
Tate Britain – 2 October 2025 to 15 February 2026
The UK’s largest Miller retrospective. From early fashion modelling to Vogue war reportage, it reframes her as the author – not the muse – of a restless modern eye. Essential for understanding fashion photography’s porous borders with art and journalism.
Must-see for: Picture editors, brand storytellers and students of visual culture who want to see craft sharpened by conflict.
More info and booking page: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/lee-miller
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MALIN+GOETZ x EAST LONDON LIQUOR RUM SESSION COCKTAIL MASTERCLASS + Q&A
Join Malin+Goetz and Alex, the founder of EAST LONDON LIQUOR CO., for an evening of cocktails, conversation + exploration of their dark rum collection.
Gianni Versace Retrospective
Arches London Bridge – 16 July 2025 to 1 March 2026
A maximalist pilgrimage: 450+ archive pieces, supermodel iconography and a Diana thread that anchors Versace’s British affinities. It is immersive and unabashedly glam – which is the point.
Must-see for: Brand clients who understand spectacle as strategy; print designers chasing high-octane surface.
More info and booking page: https://www.gianniversaceexhibition.com/
Costume Couture: Sixty Years of Cosprop
Fashion and Textile Museum, Bermondsey – 26 September 2025 to 8 March 2026
Behind-the-scenes magic from London’s legendary costume house – cinema’s great period wardrobes laid bare, with process sketches and fittings. Less catwalk, more character – and a masterclass in cut.
Must-see for: Costume professionals, fashion students, and any romantic with a soft spot for Darcy’s shirt.
More info and booking page: https://fashiontextilemuseum.org/exhibitionsdisplays/costume-couture-sixty-years-of-cosprop/
Fans in the Age of Jane Austen
The Fan Museum, Greenwich – 17 September 2025 to 21 March 2026
A delicate, deeply researched look at fans as wearable status – social signalling in mother-of-pearl and painted silk. Accessories people will be in heaven.
Must-see for: Accessory designers, period-drama costumiers, and anyone who appreciates micro-craft.
More info and booking page: https://www.thefanmuseum.org.uk/news/new-exhibition-2
Marie Antoinette Style
V&A South Kensington – 20 September 2025 to 22 March 2026
A lavish, fashion-first portrait of the world’s most mythologised taste-maker – slippers, jewels, court dress fragments and her long shadow over designers from Westwood to Dior. History, yes, but very now in its reading of image-making and power.
Must-see for: Costume designers, stylists, and anyone building a rococo-to-runway mood board.
More info and booking page: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/marie-antoinette
Blitz: The Club That Shaped the 80s
Design Museum – 20 September 2025 to 29 March 2026
The style laboratory that launched the New Romantics gets its due – subculture as design engine, from DIY flamboyance to the editorials that followed.
Must-see for: Art directors and brand archivists interested in nightlife’s direct line to fashion innovation.
More info and booking page: https://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/blitz-the-club-that-shaped-the-80s
Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style
The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace – opens spring to autumn 2026 (tickets on sale November 2025)
Marking the late Queen’s centenary with around 200 looks, half never shown – from state gowns to Balmoral pragmatism. A study in diplomatic dressing and the soft power of colour.
Must-see for: Global luxury comms teams, milliners, and anyone building a palette strategy.
More info and booking page: https://www.rct.uk/about/news-and-features/largest-exhibition-of-queen-elizabeth-iis-fashion-announced
