Utopian Bodies – Fashion Looks Forward

Utopian Bodies—Fashion Looks Forward at Liljevalchs was awarded Exhibition of the Year 2015 by the Forum för Utställare, the Association of Swedish Museums.

Utopian Bodies presents over 230 of the world’s most exciting, innovative and thought-provoking ideas, objects and videos. The exhibition maps out imaginable futures for the adorned body. How can fashion be harnessed to create a better future? How does fashion relate to the human body, to us as individuals and groups, and the world around us? Presenting fashion’s possibilities and highlighting human creativity, the exhibition aims to inspire visitors to search for their good place, their vision of the future.

Arranged over eleven galleries—Sustainability, Change, Technology, Craft & form, Craft & Colour, Resistance & Society, Resistance & Beauty, Solidarity, Memory, Gender Identity and Love—the exhibition presents a snapshot of what is possible today and where we can be in the future. With many intriguing objects on display, the exhibition invites visitors to embark on a journey through different worlds.

The individually designed galleries are inspired by utopian ideas—some realised and others not. But above all, they highlight the social promise of technology and creativity.

Exhibition highlights include iconic objects by Viktor&Rolf, Hussein Chalayan, Christian Dior by Raf Simons, Walter Van Beirendonck, Issey Miyake, Alexander McQueen, Rick Owens, Prada, Gucci, Nick Knight/SHOWstudio, Jólan van der Wiel x Iris Van Herpen, Manish Arora, KTZ, Craig Green, Stephen Jones Millinery, KENZO, Acne, Bless, Schiaparelli Haute Couture, Dries Van Noten, Bernhard Willhelm, Naomi Filmer, Sonia Rykiel, Chloé, Massaro, Alexis Themistocleous, Eckhaus Latta, Charlie Le Mindu, Chromat, Gypsy Sport as well as Versace, Maison Martin Margiela and Comme des Garçons amongst many others.

Image courtesy of Liljevalchs Konsthall. Photograph by Mattias Lindback.