Freddie Mercury once said he liked to be surrounded by splendid things and wanted to live a Victorian life amid exquisite clutter. From 24 October 2026, the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington is taking him at his word. Freddie Mercury | Splendid Things is a free trail, with no booking needed, that marks what would have been the Queen frontman’s 80th year. It brings eight of his looks into the museum’s permanent galleries until 17 January 2027.
Eight looks, six stops
The trail was developed with Mary Austin, who met Mercury in Kensington in 1970, became his fiancée and remained his closest friend for the rest of his life. She has lent seven of the eight looks. Each of the six stops is staged by designer Tom Piper, with lighting by Lucy Record and sound by Gareth Fry, and the costumes sit on specially made mannequins posed to suggest his energy on stage.
The story begins with the monochrome outfit Mercury wore for an early Queen gig at Imperial College, the same look that appears on the cover of the band’s 1973 debut album. Then comes the white Mercury Wing catsuit by Wendy de Smet, worn on the A Night at the Opera tour and in the Bohemian Rhapsody video, its wing motifs nodding to the winged sandals of the god Mercury. Visitors will also see the spiked Black Queen suit from the same partnership, the red and white T-shirt Mercury drew himself for the Flash Gordon era, Diana Moseley’s costume for the Made in Heaven video, and her crown and cloak from the 1986 Magic Tour, which he wore for his last concert with Queen at Knebworth.
The man behind the costumes
The trail also looks beyond the stage. An early 1970s jacket and several kimonos from his own wardrobe hint at the private man and his long love of Japanese design. In the Tapestry Gallery, the two de Smet costumes are paired with a new sound piece built from the isolated original recordings of Bohemian Rhapsody. As Austin has put it, Mercury understood early on that he was not simply wearing clothes but creating an image big enough for the venue and the crowd.
That instinct for drama is easy to borrow on a smaller scale. A crown-worthy statement ring or a deep red stone from our garnet rings brings a little of that regal glow, while our men’s rings and earrings prove that bold jewellery has never belonged to one gender.
Sources: Vanity Fair Italia (23 October 2026); Victoria and Albert Museum; The Guardian; The Art Newspaper; Smithsonian Magazine. Featured image: AI-generated illustrative gallery scene, not the actual costumes.
