Art and Fashion Exhibitions to See in London This Autumn
London has always been a city where culture, creativity and couture collide. This autumn, the capital feels more alive than ever, as galleries and institutions unveil exhibitions that transcend disciplines and ignite conversations between art, fashion, history and identity. From the glamour of Gianni Versace’s runway to the raw poetry of decay in fashion, from South Asian modernism to the opulence of Marie Antoinette, the season is rich with opportunities to explore how style becomes a language; one that is political, emotional, and timeless.
At Scarlet Destiny, we believe in the power of storytelling through design, and in the importance of recognising the threads that connect our cultural past to our present imagination. The exhibitions unfolding across London this autumn embody this ethos. They remind us that art and fashion are not separate worlds, but reflections of who we are, who we have been, and who we dare to become.
‘Gianni Versace Retrospective’ at Arches London Bridge
The season’s most talked-about moment is undoubtedly the Gianni Versace Retrospective at Arches London Bridge. With more than 450 original pieces, many never before seen in the UK, the retrospective is nothing short of iconic. Here, visitors encounter the unapologetic glamour that defined late 20th-century fashion—spanning the bold excess of the 1980s through to the early 1990s—from the elegance of Princess Diana’s ensembles to Naomi Campbell’s fierce runway presence. Versace’s boldness was never just aesthetic; it was a declaration of freedom, sensuality and resistance. Through accessories, archival footage and legendary designs, the retrospective captures the designer’s ability to challenge conventions while celebrating individuality, making it an essential pilgrimage for anyone fascinated by fashion’s cultural resonance.
GROUNDED: Fashion in Film Festival
5 September – 25 October 2025
This autumn, the Fashion in Film Festival returns with its 8th edition, GROUNDED, a season dedicated to exploring the intimate — and often fraught — relationship between fashion, cinema, and the natural world. Hosted across 16 venues in London, the South West, and Scotland, the programme presents more than 80 films, weaving together ecological, cultural, and aesthetic narratives that stretch from early 20th-century cinema to the present day.
At the heart of GROUNDED lies a powerful question: what happens when fashion is viewed not only as a form of expression but as a connective tissue between humanity and nature? Through strands such as From the Ground Up and Ancestral Ground, the season confronts the ways fashion both separates us from — and re-binds us to — the living world. From discarded clothing and climate justice, to the sensory pleasure of textile, form, and screen, the festival reframes fashion as more than material: it is memory, migration, ecology, and imagination.
Highlights include UK premieres, new archival restorations, live Q&As and ciné concerts, alongside standout contributions such as Ready-to-Wear Landscapes by Meghna Gupta and Jeremy Hutchison, Jeannette Ehlers’ conversation with curator Karen Alexander in Cartographies of Memory, and experimental filmmaker Jodie Mack’s radiant feature The Grand Bizarre.
With its poetic, joyful, and at times unsettling vision, GROUNDED is more than a festival; it’s an invitation to see fashion as both a mirror of our ecological crises and a bridge toward new ways of thinking, feeling, and creating. At Scarlet Destiny, we celebrate this kind of boundary-pushing work — a reminder that fashion is not simply fabric or form, but a dialogue with the world around us.
‘Hugh Hayden’ at the Lisson Gallery
From the dazzle of Versace, the journey continues into the contemplative universe of Hugh Hayden, whose exhibition at the Lisson Gallery marks his first solo show in the UK in more than five years. Raised in Texas and trained as an architect, Hayden uses wood—often steeped in layered histories—to explore identity, memory and human connection. His work transforms the familiar into the uncanny, questioning what it means to belong and what it means to be excluded. This exhibition speaks to Scarlet Destiny’s belief in design as a medium for dialogue—a way of interrogating social structures and reimagining our place within them.
Nigerian Modernism’ at Tate Modern
Autumn also brings Nigerian Modernism to Tate Modern, the first major UK exhibition to delve into the richness of Nigeria’s modern art movement. Bringing together more than 250 works by over 50 artists, it explores how Nigerian artists navigated colonialism, independence and globalisation by blending Indigenous forms with modernist ideals. Movements like the Zaria Art Society and the Oshogbo School illustrate a commitment to cultural synthesis—a refusal to choose between tradition and innovation. Artists such as Aina Onabolu, Uche Okeke and Yusuf Grillo remind us that modernism is not a Western construct, but a global dialogue shaped by voices across continents. For Scarlet Destiny, this exhibition resonates deeply with our mission to highlight multiplicity in design and to elevate voices that redefine narratives of beauty, heritage and identity.
‘Marie Antoinette Style’ at the V&A
In a different register, the V&A’s Marie Antoinette Style exhibition promises pure spectacle and substance. With more than 250 objects, including rare loans never seen outside France, the show reconstructs the life and influence of the infamous French queen. From silk slippers and jewels to fragments of court dress and personal letters, the exhibition immerses visitors in a world where opulence was a form of communication. Yet it also confronts the paradox of Marie Antoinette’s legacy: both vilified for extravagance and revered for her lasting influence on fashion. Contemporary couture from Dior, Chanel and Vivienne Westwood demonstrates how her image continues to inspire designers today.
‘Dirty Looks: Desire and Decay in Fashion’ at the Barbican
The Barbican’s Dirty Looks: Desire and Decay in Fashion takes us in the opposite direction—into a world of erosion, imperfection and transformation. Featuring more than 100 looks from designers like Hussein Chalayan, Robert Wun and Comme des Garçons, the exhibition challenges notions of luxury and beauty. Here, rust, mud and decomposition become tools of resistance—symbols of renewal in the face of collapse. With scenography designed to immerse viewers in an uneasy contrast between sleekness and decay, the exhibition embraces the imperfect as a site of power. It is a visceral reminder that fashion is not only about surface, but about substance, narrative and resilience—values at the very heart of Scarlet Destiny.
‘Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World’ at the National Portrait Gallery
For a more intimate lens on fashion’s history, the National Portrait Gallery’s Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World reveals the legacy of one of the most influential image-makers of the 20th century. Known as “The King of Vogue,” Beaton captured royalty, Hollywood icons and the spirit of entire eras through photography, illustration and costume design. His collaborations with designers and his eye for elegance shaped how glamour was visualised for decades. In revisiting his work, we see how fashion photography is never just documentation—but an act of construction, a way of sculpting dreams into reality.
‘A Story of South Asian Art’ at the Royal Academy
Finally, the Royal Academy’s A Story of South Asian Art: Mrinalini Mukherjee and Her Circle offers a vital perspective on modernism through the lens of South Asia. Showcasing Mukherjee’s groundbreaking sculptures alongside works by her mentors, peers and family, the exhibition illuminates a network of artistic dialogues that shaped a pivotal period in the region’s cultural history. By situating Mukherjee within a wider circle, the show foregrounds collaboration, exchange and interconnectedness—qualities that resonate strongly with Scarlet Destiny’s own vision of creativity as a collective endeavour.
This autumn, London is a living gallery, a city where the legacies of designers, artists and visionaries converge to shape new ways of seeing. Each exhibition offers not only beauty but perspective: a reminder that fashion and art are not luxuries but languages through which we understand ourselves and each other. At Scarlet Destiny, we champion precisely these moments of intersection, where creativity becomes a form of activism, memory, and transformation.
As the season unfolds, we invite you to step into these spaces, immerse yourself in their narratives, and carry forward their stories. For in art and fashion, as in life, the most meaningful journeys are those that reveal not only what we wear or what we see, but who we are becoming.
The city is calling. These stories aren’t just exhibitions—they're invitations. Follow us, and step deeper into the destiny you’re already writing.
Sources: flolonfon.co.uk, archeslondonbridge.co.uk and ocula.com
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