V&A Dundee to celebrate the catwalk and disabled design with new fashion exhibitions

The V&A Dundee museum in Scotland is getting fashion-ready for 2026, when it will host two exhibitions celebrating the evolution of catwalk shows and disabled-led design.

In April, the museum will open a new fashion exhibition: ‘Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show,’ bringing together catwalk pieces from fashion houses including Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, Maison Margiela, Prada, Paco Rabanne, Louis Vuitton and Yohji Yamamoto.

The exhibit, running from April 3, 2026, to January 17, 2027, will document over 100 years of fashion show history, tracing the evolution of the catwalk from the private fashion salons of the late 19th century to today’s live-stream experiences.

Kirsty Hassard, co-curator of ‘Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show’ at V&A Dundee, said in a statement: “Fashion shows are more than just moments on a runway – they’re defining moments in culture that reflect the spirit of their time, bringing together a multitude of different design disciplines including hair and makeup, set design, lighting, photography and many more.

“This UK-first exhibition is a celebration of over 100 years of catwalk history, exploring the underlying dreams and motivations behind the catwalk concepts, revealing how they’ve shaped not only what we wear, but how we see ourselves.”

Scottish museum V&A Dundee to place focus on the catwalk in 2026

The exhibition aims to spotlight the creativity, energy and impact of the catwalk showcase, highlighting seminal moments in fashion, such as theatrical spectacles seen at Alexander McQueen and dramatic show settings at Fendi at the Great Wall of China, Dior’s takeover of Drummond Castle Gardens in Perthshire and Chanel’s staging of a rocket launch.

It will also highlight how the catwalk is a blend of “epic creative endeavours” from different design disciplines, with architecture, lighting, music, film, make-up, hairdressing, jewellery, set design and fashion coming together into “carefully choreographed fleeting sequences with models centre-stage”.

The exhibition promises to show the changing eras of the catwalk with film and photographs, original collection pieces, stage props and archival material to create “a vivid experience of the catwalk from its beginnings to the present day”.

‘Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show’ is a new exhibition conceived by the Vitra Design Museum in Germany and V&A Dundee. It will run in Germany from October 18, 2025, to February 15, 2026, before travelling to Scotland for its UK debut.

Exhibition celebrating disabled-led design to travel to V&A Dundee

The V&A Dundee will also open an exhibition centred around the contributions of disabled, deaf, and neurodivergent people to design and culture, called ‘Design and Disability’, in June, which is currently running at V&A’s London museum until February 15, 2026.

The exhibit will display more than 170 objects, celebrating disabled-led design from the 1940s to the present day, spanning design, art, architecture, fashion and photography. It will show how disabled people have designed for every aspect of life through their own experience and expertise, tracing the political and social history of design and disability.

Natalie Kane, curator of design and disability at the V&A, added: “This exhibition shows how disabled people are the experts in their own lives, and have made invaluable contributions to our designed world. Design and Disability aims to honour Disabled life as it engages with creative practice, presenting a strong culture of making that has always been central to Disabled identity. In putting this show together, it is an act of joy and resistance.”

‘Design and Disability’ will open on June 4, 2026.