5 December 2012

Film treat for V&A at Dundee event audience

Highlights of Dundee's fashion event of the year will be presented to the audience at a V&A at Dundee event tomorrow night (Thursday Dec 6th).

A fashion show presented by Dundee designer Hayley Scanlan at The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum last month attracted a packed house and set the city buzzing.

Hayley, the Scottish Fashion Awards Young Designer of the Year, launched the very first collection from her new diffusion line 'HS' at the event. 'Velvet Venom' is the first diffusion collection from Hayley, produced to cope with intense demand for her work, which has become a favourite of stars including Jessie J and Little Mix. It features her trademark simple silhouettes combined with striking detail and embellishment.

The whole event, which was supported by V&A at Dundee, was filmed and the highlights have now been edited into a four-minute package which will be premiered tomorrow night.

The film will be shown before the start of a public lecture by Susanna Brown, Curator of Photographs for the Victoria & Albert Museum, at the University of Dundee's Dalhousie Building.

Susanna is in Dundee for two public events around the exhibition 'Selling Dreams: One Hundred Years of Fashion Photography', the second in a series of exhibitions leading up to the opening of V&A at Dundee and currently on show at The McManus.

Susanna will be at the gallery to give a lunchtime talk on Thursday December 6th, from 1pm to 1.30pm. Admission is free but places are limited, and booking through McManus Reception is essential - contact 01382 307200. This talk may not be suitable for children under 14.

She will then give the public lecture at the University of Dundee. Susanna will talk in-depth about the first touring exhibition from the V&A Collection to explore the work of international fashion photographers. Susanna will explore a century of spectacular fashion imagery by leading practitioners - including Baron de Meyer's glittering belle époque studies, Irving Penn's refined studio shots, David Bailey's '60s sirens and Tim Walker's lavish contemporary creations - as well as lesser-known treasures from the V&A's magnificent collection of photographs.

The lecture takes place in the Dalhousie Building, Old Hawkhill, at 6pm on Thursday December 6th. Free tickets for this event are available from: events@dundee.ac.uk and www.dundee.ac.uk/tickets, in person from Tower Building Reception at the University, or by calling 01382 385564 / 385108.

'Selling Dreams: One Hundred Years of Fashion Photography' is at The McManus until January 6th.

Notes to editors

The V&A is the world's leading museum of art and design with collections unrivalled in their scope and diversity. It was established to make works of art available to all and to inspire British designers and manufacturers. Today, the V&A's collections, which span over 2000 years of human creativity in virtually every medium and from many parts of the world, continue to intrigue, inspire and inform. The V&A has the oldest museum collection of photographs and the UK's National Collection of the Art of Photography.

V&A at Dundee
The V&A at Dundee is being delivered by Design Dundee Ltd, a ground-breaking partnership between the Victoria and Albert Museum - the world's greatest museum of art and design - and Dundee City Council, the Universities of Dundee and Abertay Dundee, and Scottish Enterprise.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) awarded it a first round pass of up to £9.2m, including £200,000 development funding, in May 2102. The Scottish Government has committed £15m in capital towards the project's £45million budget. www.vandaatdundee.com

The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum is operated by Leisure & Culture Dundee, working in partnership with Dundee City Council. www.mcmanus.co.uk.

For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
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University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
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E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
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