Freddie Mercury's Boundary-Pushing Costumes Take Center Stage at the Victoria and Albert Museum to Mark the 80th Anniversary of His Birth

On August 9, 1986, the rock band Queen performed live at Knebworth Park in England. Lead singer Freddie Mercury appeared onstage in white pants and a bright yellow military-style jacket—one of his signature looks from that year’s Magic Tour—and belted out hits like “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Are the Champions.” The concert turned out to be Mercury’s last performance with Queen. Within a year, the musician had been diagnosed as HIV-positive.

He died of bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS on November 24, 1991, at age 45. Mercury is chiefly remembered for his voice and music, but his stage presence was also inextricably linked to his colorful, boundary-pushing clothes. The yellow military-style jacket, the silver sequined catsuit associated with his 1977-79 tours and the white tank top he wore while performing at Live Aid in 1985 have all been reproduced in pop art, memorabilia and Halloween costumes alike.

Now, Mercury’s wardrobe is taking the spotlight at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London. Beginning in October, several weeks after the 80th anniversary of Mercury’s birth, the museum’s South Kensington location will display eight looks spanning his career. Titled “Freddie Mercury: Splendid Things,” the exhibition will unfold across six “stops” in the museum’s permanent galleries.

The six stops will span the 1970s and 1980s, with each showcasing “an iconic moment in Mercury’s career,” per the statement. The looks will be displayed on custom mannequins dynamically posed to evoke the Queen frontman’s stage presence. Visitors will be able to see a black-and-white ensemble that Mercury wore during Queen’s early years, which was later featured on the cover of the band’s debut album.

In a 2000 interview, lead guitarist Brian May recalled the decision to present Mercury in monochrome, saying, “I remember thinking very consciously, ‘Freddie as singer will be our figurehead. Let’s use him as such.’” Also on display will be the white “Mercury Wing” catsuit donned by the musician during Queen’s mid-1970s Night at the Opera Tour and in the music video for “Bohemian Rhapsody.” As designer Wendy Edmonds recalled, “Freddie wanted to look like the god of Mercury. … He bought fabric from Borovick’s in Broadwick Street in London. … It was a stretch satin, skintight, with a low neck and a zip.” The outfit was one of several elaborate stage ensembles that Mercury wore during Queen’s rise to stardom. 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.” Costume designer Julian Day, who worked on the 2018 biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, tells Vogue Adria’s Tara Đukić that Mercury didn’t follow “fashion in the traditional sense.” Instead, he “showed a different way of dressing, beyond what was considered the norm. I think it is very difficult for people who did not live through that era to understand just how underground it all was.” In addition to stage outfits, the exhibition features accessories and pieces from the singer’s personal wardrobe, which “offer a glimpse of the man behind the Mercury persona,” according to the statement.