“For me, The Vulgar is the most captivating, intriguing title of any exhibition. It’s such a no-go area, culturally and artistically, but I think it’s all the more magical for that. Maybe that’s my inner punk talking. I find all the different ingredients you can put in the pot of design fascinating.” — Stephen Jones, Designer (Financial Times)

The Vulgar: Fashion Redefined has just opened at the Barbican in London. It’s arguably one of this season’s biggest and hotly anticipated exhibitions. Given this, it certainly has a great deal to live up to. Yet already the rave reviews have started to come in – notable example is The Telegraph’s which exclaims that it’s “delightfully subversive”.

Featuring over 40 designers, the exhibition is co-curated by Judith Clark and Adam Phillips across 11 rooms which include themes such as: ‘Too Popular’, ‘Exaggerated Bodies’, and ‘Common’.

Apparently there are over 120 objects on display in the show, ranging from Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s ‘tits’ t-shirt, to David LaChapelle’s photographic portrait of a woman snorting a line of diamonds as if they were cocaine.

The catalogue itself promises to be a seriously lavish publication indeed, and we are thrilled to be distributing it — see here for more details. It’s one of our most exciting books of 2016 for sure! We’re expecting it in stock soon so please keep an eye out on twitter for when we giddily announce it’s arrival.

In her interview with The Guardian, curator Judith Clark explains: “There is lots of irony on the catwalk these days […] I think a lot of contemporary designers use humour and referencing in a knowing way. We have featured designers who can twist and turn with the idea of taste and playing with the rules of etiquette.”

We hope you’re as excited about this as we are!

Photo credit: Walter van Beirendonck, Fall/Winter 2010/2011. Hat: Stephen Jones © Ronald Stoops