Freddie Mercury's Costumes Head to the V&A for Free Autumn Display
Eight costumes worn by Freddie Mercury will go on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington this autumn, in a free trail called "Splendid Things" running from 24 October to 17 January 2027 The Art Newspaper.
The display takes its name from a remark Mercury made in 1978: "I like to be surrounded by splendid things. I want to lead a Victorian life surrounded by exquisite clutter." Kate Bailey, the V&A's senior curator of theatre and performance, said Mercury "will be very at home in the V&A galleries," reflecting his love of splendid things and his passion for art, design and fashion The Art Newspaper.
Among the costumes on view will be the ensemble featured on the cover of Queen's 1973 debut album, and the Mercury Wing catsuit designed by Wendy de Smet for the Night At The Opera tour of 1975–1976 The Art Newspaper.
The trail was developed with Mary Austin, Mercury's former fiancée and the woman who inherited his home and its contents when he died in 1991. Austin has been the guardian of Mercury's personal collection for more than three decades The Art Newspaper.
For fans, the V&A display follows a broader chapter of Mercury's belongings reaching public view. In August 2023, around 1,500 items from Mercury's Garden Lodge home in Kensington were displayed at Sotheby's London gallery ahead of a six-part auction of his collection The Guardian. That exhibition, which drew large crowds, ran from 4 August until 5 September 2023 Hot Press.
The V&A has held Mercury-related items before. One of his kimonos appeared in the museum's travelling exhibition "Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk," and V&A Dundee published an essay by the fashion designer Dame Zandra Rhodes about Mercury and his kimono to mark what would have been the singer's birthday V&A Dundee.
What makes "Splendid Things" stand out is the access: it is free, it sits inside one of the world's leading decorative arts museums, and it pairs stage costumes with Mercury's own words about the way he wanted to live — surrounded by beautiful, cluttered things. The eight costumes span the arc of Queen's rise, from the pre-fame debut album sleeve to the operatic theatricality of the mid-1970s tours that made Mercury a visual as well as a musical icon.
The Victoria and Albert Museum is on Cromwell Road in South Kensington, London. Admission to the permanent collection and the "Splendid Things" trail is free.
