All kinds of muckiness has a place here, from the dirt and decay endemic to nature and entropy, sex and death, to the messiness of being human and humanity’s many messes. There’s the opening display of Hussein Chalayan’s groundbreaking (literally) 1993 graduate collection where he exhumed dress he buried with iron filings in London soil. Fashion’s greatest tributes to Miss Havisham and her ratty gown, including a piece from McQueen’s divisive Highland Rape AW95 show. Foraged trash turned into treasures, including Andrew Groves bonkers SS99 showcloser for Cocaine Nights: a dress made out of razor blades from a collection inspired by Face/Off. Pizza and pit stains, dirt-soaked hems, and clothes that have been torn, buried, soaked, set on fire or even exploded — as with Issey Miyake’s 1998 project Dragon: Explosion.
