UNVEILING ITS BIGGEST EXHIBITION TO DATE KENSINGTON PALACE

BRINGS A-LIST FASHION TO LONDON WITH GLAMOROUS GOWNS FROM BEYONCE, LIZZO, BILLIE EILISH AND MORE

- DANIELLE STACEY

The red carpet may seem like a modern phenomenon, but the glittering world of the Georgian court was putting on a spectacle centuries before the likes of Lady Gaga, Lizzo and Billie Eilish became household names.

Crown to Couture is a stunning new exhibition at Kensington Palace that explores captivating parallels between the contemporary red carpet and the world of the 18th-century royal court.

“One of the things that fascinates me is that today we have all these social media videos of celebrities getting ready, but, weirdly, it was also quite a public thing in the 18th century,” Polly Putnam, curator of collections at Historic Royal Palaces, tells Hello!

“Women of a certain social standing would be given amazing silver toilet services,” she says. “These were far prettier than they needed to be, but they were objects that were all about show. So this was something of a public event but also quite a power play.”

Nearly four years in the making, the exhibition (which runs until Oct. 29) is the biggest ever staged at Kensington Palace. It brings together more than 200 pieces, ranging from gowns to handbags to jewelry, and many of the items are instantly recognizable.

The King’s Gallery, which once formed one of the central places to see and be seen at the palace, is filled with a stellar lineup of exhibits, including the black-and-gold Thom Browne outfit that Lizzo wore to last year’s Met Gala in New York City and the voluminous green ballgown that Lady Gaga donned (along with a horned face mask) for the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards.

Another standout piece is the show-stopping Oscar de la Renta dress – a custom tulle corset gown with a 4.5-metre train – that Billie Eilish wore for her Met Gala debut in 2021.