Freddie Mercury | Splendid Things

 

1986년 '매직 투어' 때 다이애나 모즐리가 디자인한 왕관과 망토를 착용한 프레디 머큐리. Photo: Denis O’Regan

 

록 밴드 퀸(Queen)의 프레디 머큐리(Freddie Mercury, 1946-1991)가 살아있었더라면, 올해로 80세를 맞았을 것이다. 런던의 빅토리아 & 알버트 뮤지엄이 10월 24일부터 내년 1월 7일까지 프레디 머큐리가 입었던 의상 8점을 전시한다. 'Freddie Mercury | Splendid Things'를 타이틀로 한 이 특별전은 머큐리의 전약혼자이자 20년 지기 친구였던 메리 오스틴(Mary Austin)이 뮤지엄과 함께 기획했다. 

 

이 전시에선 1970년대와 80년대를 아우르는 다양한 의상을 선보인다. 퀸의 초기 임페리얼 칼리지(Imperial College) 공연에서 프레디가 착용하고 1973년 데뷔 앨범 표지에도 등장했던 강렬한 모노크롬 의상, 1975-76년 'A Night at the Opera' 투어 무대와 혁신적인 '보헤미안 랩소디(Bohemian Rhapsody)' 뮤직비디오에서 볼 수 있었던 웬디 드 스멧(Wendy de Smet) 디자인의 '머큐리 윙(Mercury Wing)' 캣수트, 그리고 1986년 넵워스(Knebworth)에서 열린 퀸과의 마지막 무대를 포함 'Magic Tour'에서 착용한 다이애나 모즐리(Diana Moseley) 디자인의 상징적인 왕관과 망토 등이 선보인다.

 

또한 'Made in Heaven' 뮤직비디오에서 착용한 의상을 통해 솔로 스타로서 머큐리가 거둔 성공의 순간까지 조명한다. 머큐리의 개인 소장품인 액세서리와 의상들은 화려한 무대 위 '머큐리'라는 페르소나 뒤에 숨겨진 인간적인 면모를 엿볼 수 있게 해줄 것이다. 

 

1946년 잔지바(현 탄자니아)의 인도계 가정에서 태어난 프레디 머큐리의 본명은 파로크 불사라(Farrokh Bulsara).  1970년 런던에서 브라이언 메이(기타)가 로저 테일러(드럼), 팀 스타펠(보컬)와 3인조 밴드 '스마일(Smile)'로 활동을 시작했다가, 프레디 머큐리가 보컬을 대치했다. 머큐리는 밴드 이름을 웅장하고, 장엄하며, 연극적인 느낌을 주는 '퀸'으로 바꾸자고 주장했다. 이듬해 베이시스트 존 디콘을 영입하며 전설의 4인조 '퀸'의 라인업이 완성됐다.  

 

퀸은 비틀즈의 바톤을 이어받아 하드록, 펑크록, 글램록, 디스코, 뉴웨이브, 그리고 오페라를 결합한 음악으로 세대를 풍미했다. 또한, 1981년 록밴드 최초로 남미 대형 축구 경기장 투어를 하면서 스타디움 록의 시대를 열었다. 

 

빌보드 차트에서도 퀸은 1980년 디스코와 펑크를 접목한 'Another One Bites the Dust'와 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love'로 연달아 핫100의 정상을 차지했으며, 이곡들이 수록된 'The Game'은 앨범 차트 1위를 기록했다. 싱글곡 'Bohemian Rhapsody', 'We Are the Champions' 'We Will Rock You'로도 차트 상위권을 휩쓸었다. 

 

머큐리는 보컬부터 키보드 연주와 작곡까지 맡아 폭발적인 보컬과 카리스마 넘치는 무대 매너, 그리고 특유의 오페라틱하고 멜로딕한 작곡으로 전설적인 보컬리스트로 남았다. 그는 1991년 런던에서 45세로 눈을 감았다. 

 

 

뮤직 비디오 'Made in Heaven'(1985)에서 프레디 머큐리. Photo: Simon Fowler

 

 

V&A announces Freddie Mercury |Splendid Things

 

“I like to be surrounded by splendid things. I want to lead a Victorian life surrounded by exquisite clutter”

Freddie Mercury, 1978

 

8 looks spanning Freddie Mercury’s career will go on temporary display this winter

 

24 October 2026 – 17 January 2027

Throughout V&A South Kensington

vam.ac.uk

 

 

Today the V&A announces that eight looks worn by the iconic performer and songwriter Freddie Mercury will go on display at V&A South Kensington this October as part of a free trail celebrating the global superstar. Opening on 24th October, Freddie Mercury | Splendid Things will mark the 80th anniversary year of Freddie’s birth, paying tribute to one of the world’s most beloved performers. The trail, developed with Mary Austin, Freddie’s former fiancée, close friend and confidante of 20 years, celebrates Mercury’s career through costumes and accessories worn in some of the most memorable music videos and pop performances of modern times. Mary is lending seven of the looks to the V&A for the display.

 

Each of the six stops on the trail will showcase an iconic moment in Mercury’s career, with looks spotlighting his flamboyance, charisma and the multi-disciplinary creativity that helped define his enduring legacy. Each intervention will present some of Freddie’s most memorable looks in dialogue with a unique and dramatic setting in the V&A galleries and will draw synergies with the V&A objects on display, as well as the architecture of the building. Mannequins made specially for the trail will be dynamically posed to reflect Freddie’s charismatic stage presence.

 

The looks span the 1970s and 80s and include a striking monochrome ensemble worn by Freddie for an early Queen gig at Imperial college and featured on the cover of Queen’s debut album in 1973, as well as the ‘Mercury Wing’ catsuit designed by Wendy de Smet that was worn on stage for Night At the Opera tour, 1975- 1976 and seen in the groundbreaking video for Bohemian Rhapsody and his signature crown and cloak designed by Diana Moseley and worn on the Magic Tour including for Freddie’s last stage appearance with Queen at Knebworth, 1986. The looks take us right through to Mercury’s success as a solo star with the costume worn in the Made in Heaven music video. Accessories and items from Mercury’s personal wardrobe also offer a glimpse of the man behind the Mercury persona. 

 

Designed by award-winning designer Tom Piper – best known for his stage designs in theatre and opera including numerous productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as his Tower of London poppies and V&A exhibition Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser and the Taylor Swift | Songbook Trail – each installation will be distinct and theatrically staged, bringing to life moments in Freddie’s musical career through set dressing and in some spaces - sound and light. There will be a public programme of related events to coincide with the display. 

 

Kate Bailey, Senior Curator of Theatre and Performance at the V&A said: ‘We are thrilled to display Freddie’s most iconic costumes at the V&A, celebrating one of greatest performers and songwriters of all time. Reflecting his love of ‘splendid things’ and his passion for art, design and fashion, Freddie will be very at home in the V&A galleries.’

 

Mary Austin explains that Freddie Mercury’s striking costumes were an integral, and carefully considered, part of his stage persona: ‘As the records became more successful and the response grew stronger, his confidence deepened and his performance settled.

 

What I saw now was an artist continuously developing while the seed of who he was stayed intact. The clothes were part of that exploration. Freddie understood early on that he wasn’t just wearing clothes; he was providing an image to match the scale of the space and the vastness of the crowd. He was there to entertain, and everything about what he wore fed into that’ (Mary Austin quoted in “A Life in Lyrics” published by HarperCollins on September 1, 2026).

 

Mary Austin adds: ‘As we celebrate Freddie’s legacy in what would have been his 80th year, the clothes and costumes to be displayed at the V&A tell a hugely important part of his story both on and off the stage. Never mere accoutrements, his costumes and clothes were essential to his performances, creative vision, and wider self-expression, carefully designed to create a lasting visual and emotional impact that has reached across the generations and still reverberates today.’

 

 

V&A South Kensington

Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL

https://www.vam.ac.uk