Freddie Mercury Splendid Things, a free trail at the V&A South Kensington celebrating what would have been the rock icon’s 80th birthday, opens on 24 October and runs until 17 January, bringing eight of his most extraordinary stage looks out of storage and into the light.
The trail takes its title from a remark Mercury made in 1978: ‘I like to be surrounded by splendid things. I want to lead a Victorian life surrounded by exquisite clutter.’ It is an apt frame for a career in which clothing was never incidental. From sequinned leotards to vibrant military jackets to red patent leather trousers, what he wore was as deliberate and as carefully calibrated as any note he sang.
Six Stops, Seven Loans and a Lifetime of Friendship
The trail has been created with the involvement of Mary Austin, Mercury’s closest friend and former fiancée, who knew him for 20 years, according to Wallpaper*. When Mercury died in 1991, he left most of his fortune and possessions to Austin. For this exhibition, she has loaned seven of his looks to the museum, making her the single most important voice in shaping what visitors will encounter.
The route winds through six stops, each staging its looks inside a theatrical installation built from set dressing, audio and light. According to Londonist, the creative force behind that design is Tom Piper. The installations are intended to place each look in context, carrying visitors from Queen’s early days at university venues through to some of rock history’s most celebrated nights.
The Outfits: From Imperial College to Knebworth
The selection spans Mercury’s full arc as a performer. A monochrome ensemble worn at an early Queen gig at Imperial College anchors one end of the chronology. At the other stands the opulent crown and cloak he wore on the Magic Tour and during his final stage appearance with Queen at Knebworth in 1986. The Art Newspaper reports that the crown and cloak were the work of designer Diana Moseley.
Perhaps the most technically intriguing piece in the display is the ‘Mercury Wing’ catsuit, worn for the Night At The Opera tour (1975-1976) and the Bohemian Rhapsody music video. The Art Newspaper identifies its designer as Wendy de Smet, a detail that gives the garment a provenance to match its mythology. The catsuit’s silhouette, with its angular wing construction, became one of the defining visual signatures of that era, and seeing it in person will be a different experience from watching it flutter across a television screen.
Visitors will also have the chance to look more closely at accessories from Mercury’s personal collection, objects that belong to the private life behind the performance.
Freddie Mercury Splendid Things: What Austin Says
In her upcoming book A Life in Lyrics, Austin articulates the philosophy that underpinned all of it. ‘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,’ she writes. ‘He was there to entertain, and everything about what he wore fed into that.’
She adds: ‘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.’
It is a clear-eyed summary of a career in which the visual and the musical were inseparable. Standing in a gallery on the Cromwell Road, face to face with the Mercury Wing catsuit or the Knebworth crown under a wash of theatrical light, that argument should be easy to feel as well as to understand.
Freddie Mercury | Splendid Things is at V&A South Kensington from 24 October 2026 until 17 January. Entry is free.