Tim Walker: Wonderful Things

ne of the most exciting things about being a design studio in the centre of the London is the art and culture on our doorstep. With a rich array of museums, galleries, and archives to explore, the team at Studio 104 is constantly investigating to inspire our designer uniform collections with the latest trends.

Fortunately, before lockdown, we were able to experience Tim Walker’s exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Wonderful Things. Experience is the right word for the fantastical fairy-tale world created. An exuberant exhibition of the British photographer’s special brand of surrealism honed over the decades working for fashion magazines.

The exhibition explored the creative process of Walker, through his pictures, films, photographic sets, and special installations. Staring with a retrospective of his best pieces moving on to a new series influenced by the V&A's archive. Three years in the making, Walkers choice of artefacts appear alongside the works. Including luminous stained-glass windows, vivid Indian miniature paintings, bejewelled snuffboxes, erotic illustrations, golden shoes, and a 65-metre-long photograph of the Bayeux Tapestry, the largest photograph in the museum's collection.

One of our highlights was the Bayeux tapestry, which has been recreated featuring “eco warriors – the soldiers of tomorrow”. The weapons replaced with recycled and repurposed ironing boards and hoovers covered in knitting in an expansive photocollage. Another is the appearance of Walker’s muse Tilda Swinton, staring defiantly at the camera, wearing a gold turban and gobstopper rings, her eyebrows calligraphy lines, in a series inspired by her distant relative, the poet Edith Sitwell.

What lifted the show and made it a success to delve into was Shona Health, set designer and Walker’s long-term collaborator. Walking through the gallery, you move from a stained-glass medieval church to a pink damask bourgeois manor.

The exhibition was a delight and our team are excited to begin working on new uniform designs. Like Walker for this exhibition we are inspired by the rich history of our clients’ buildings and artifacts, from Fortum’s and Mason’s archive of biscuit tins to The Fife Arms’ fashion heritage (read more on our https://www.studio-104.com/post/schiaparelli)

In the current climate the show is a total escape from reality, if you missed out the Victoria & Albert has filmed a highlights tour.

Inside the Tim Walker: Wonderful Things exhibition - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fjZ6n_pj14

https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/tim-walker#articles

Written by Bethan @ Studio 104