Clock wig
Hat
1985 (designed), 2013 (made)
1985 (designed), 2013 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Stephen Jones and John Galliano met at London’s Blitz club in the 1980s. Jones had recently returned to London after a period living in Paris and Galliano claims that on his graduation from Central Saint Martin’s Jones initially refused to make hats for him. Their collaboration on ‘The Ludic Game’ collection is a very early example of an important and highly creative working relationship that continued for the next twenty years.
The ‘Clock’ wig is an early example of Jones’ ongoing interest in unconventional materials and surprising sculptural forms. The hat’s explosive shape mirrors the exaggerated cut of the plaid suit with which it was worn. Galliano summed up the overriding sense of fun and surprise in ‘The Ludic Game’ collection in 1987, when he wrote of it: ‘Imagine a roomful of kids and a box of clothes. Put a shoe on your head. It’s a wonderful, naïve approach to dressing’ (quoted in Michael Gross, ‘Center Stage, From the Creative Fringe’, New York Times, 14 October 1987).
The ‘Clock’ wig is an early example of Jones’ ongoing interest in unconventional materials and surprising sculptural forms. The hat’s explosive shape mirrors the exaggerated cut of the plaid suit with which it was worn. Galliano summed up the overriding sense of fun and surprise in ‘The Ludic Game’ collection in 1987, when he wrote of it: ‘Imagine a roomful of kids and a box of clothes. Put a shoe on your head. It’s a wonderful, naïve approach to dressing’ (quoted in Michael Gross, ‘Center Stage, From the Creative Fringe’, New York Times, 14 October 1987).
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Clock wig (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | |
| Brief description | 'Clock wig', designed by Stephen Jones in 1985, remade 2013 |
| Object history | This hat was remade by Stephen Jones in 2013, to a 1985 design, for display in the exhibition ‘Club to Catwalk’ (Room 40, 2013-2014). Given the design’s importance to Stephen Jones’ 1980s work, and as a document of his long-standing and influential collaboration with John Galliano, it was decided to accession the hat into the collection after the exhibition closed. The ‘Clock’ wig was designed by Stephen Jones in 1985 to be worn as part of a man’s ensemble in John Galliano’s ‘The Ludic Game’ collection (Autumn/Winter 1985–86). ‘The Ludic Game’ was Galliano’s second collection after his graduation from Central Saint Martins. In his work on the collection, Galliano spent many hours studying historical dress at the V&A, looking in particular at the cut of 18th- and 19th-century menswear. The clock wig was worn with a plaid suit – distinctive for an oversize check fabric and exaggerated proportions. An example of the suit was donated to the V&A in 1989 (T.223&A-1989). |
| Production | Hat remade in 2013 to a 1985 design |
| Summary | Stephen Jones and John Galliano met at London’s Blitz club in the 1980s. Jones had recently returned to London after a period living in Paris and Galliano claims that on his graduation from Central Saint Martin’s Jones initially refused to make hats for him. Their collaboration on ‘The Ludic Game’ collection is a very early example of an important and highly creative working relationship that continued for the next twenty years. The ‘Clock’ wig is an early example of Jones’ ongoing interest in unconventional materials and surprising sculptural forms. The hat’s explosive shape mirrors the exaggerated cut of the plaid suit with which it was worn. Galliano summed up the overriding sense of fun and surprise in ‘The Ludic Game’ collection in 1987, when he wrote of it: ‘Imagine a roomful of kids and a box of clothes. Put a shoe on your head. It’s a wonderful, naïve approach to dressing’ (quoted in Michael Gross, ‘Center Stage, From the Creative Fringe’, New York Times, 14 October 1987). |
| Associated object | |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.1685-2017 |
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| Record created | October 8, 2014 |
| Record URL |
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