VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM TO PRESENT 'GRACE KELLY: STYLE ICON'

DRESSES THAT GRACE KELLY WORE IN SCREEN CLASSICS SUCH AS 'HIGH SOCIETY' AND 'REAR WINDOW' ARE GOING ON EXHIBITION IN LONDON. 'GRACE KELLY: STYLE ICON' AT THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM WILL DISPLAY THE GLAMOROUS WARDROBE OF THE OSCAR WINNING ACTRESS WHO WENT ON TO BECOME A PRINCESS. EXHIBITS INCLUDE THE GOWN KELLY WORE TO EXCEPT HER OSCAR IN 1955, AS WELL AS THE OUTFIT SHE WORE TO HER FIRST MEETING WITH HER FUTURE HUSBAND PRINCE RAINIER III OF MONACO LATER THAT YEAR. THE SHOW WILL TRACE THE EVOLUTION OF HER STYLE AS PRINCESS GRACE OF MONACO, WITH HAUTE COUTURE GOWNS BY HER FAVORITE COUTURIERS DIOR, BALENCIAGA, GIVENCHY AND YVES SAINT LAURENT. THE EXHIBITION EXPLORES KELLY'S ENDURING APPEAL AS A STYLE ICON, IT FEATURES HER FILM COSTUMES, THE MUCH PUBLICIZED DRESSES MADE FOR HER TROUSSEAU AND WEDDING, AND THE FRENCH HAUTE COUTURE THAT SHE REQUIRED FOR HER ROLE AS PRINCESS OF MONACO
WHEN PEOPLE THINK OF GRACE KELLY (1929-82), ONE OF THE MOST PHOTOGRAPHED WOMEN OF THE 20th CENTURY, WHAT THEY USUALLY RECALL IS HER BEAUTY AND ELEGANCE. SHE ROSE TO FAME AS AN ACTRESS IN THE 1950s, STARRING IN FILMS BY HITCHCOCK AND OTHERS. HER IMAGE WAS CULTIVATED BY THE MOVIE INDUSTRY, WHICH FED CINEMA-GOERS' GROWING APPETITE FOR PICTURES OF GLAMOROUS STARS THROUGH MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS. SHE CAME TO SYMBOLIZE THE CLASSIC, UNDERSTATED LOOK SHE WORE BOTH ON AND OFF SCREEN. THE EXHIBITION EXPLORES, THROUGH HER SURVIVING CLOTHES, THE STORY OF HER TRANSFORMATION FROM HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS TO A PRINCESS OF ONE OF EUROPE'S OLDEST ROYAL FAMILIES.