V&A to celebrate Taylor Swift with a ‘songbook’ trail
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Culture
London’s V&A Museum has announced a free trail celebrating 14-time Grammy Award-winning artist Taylor Swift to mark the success of the singer-songwriter’s UK tour.
The ‘Taylor Swift | Songbook Trail’ will run from July 27 to September 8, and celebrate the creativity of her costumes, lyrics and music videos and explore the global phenomena of the pop icon.
The trail will feature 16 looks spanning Swift's eras, which will sit alongside instruments, music awards, storyboards and previously unseen archival, including exploring her childhood and recording legacy, many of which will be displayed for the first time.
Kate Bailey, senior curator of theatre and performance at the V&A, said in a statement: “We are delighted to be able to display a range of iconic looks worn by Taylor Swift at the V&A this summer.
“Each celebrating a chapter in the artist’s musical journey. Taylor Swift’s songs like objects tell stories, often drawing from art, history and literature. We hope this theatrical trail across the museum will inspire curious visitors to discover more about the performer, her creativity and V&A objects.”
Taylor Swift tour costumes to go on display at V&A in London
There will be 13 stops on the ‘Songbook Trail,’ winding through the V&A’s permanent galleries, each showcasing a chapter in the songbook of Swift’s career and spotlighting a particular era of her music and prolific songwriting.
Each stop will be “theatrically staged,” added the V&A, designed by award-winning designer Tom Piper, best known for his stage designs for the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as his Tower of London poppies and V&A exhibition ‘Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser’.
Costume and accessories will be on loan from Swift’s personal archive and include customised cowboy boots worn during her breakout success as a country singer in 2006 and a jet-black ruffled shoulder dress worn in the most recent music video for her single ‘Fortnight,’ from the album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ (2024).
