Amy Winehouse’s signature style to be celebrated in London exhibition

UK's Design Museum will also showcase the late singer's guitars and handwritten lyrics in a major retrospective opening in November

The dress worn by Amy Winehouse to the 2007 Brit Awards will feature in the Design Museum's exhibition, Amy: Beyond the Stage. Getty Images
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With her towering beehive, thick swipe of eyeliner and penchant for retro mini dresses, Amy Winehouse's look was, arguably, as distinctive as her chart-topping music.

And now, the late singer's style is set to form the cornerstone of a new UK exhibition.

Amy: Beyond the Stage will contain some of the Back to Black star's most famous outfits when it opens at London's Design Museum in November.

The retrospective marks the first major British exhibition about Winehouse's life, taking place 10 years after her death at age 27. The Rehab singer-songwriter, who battled addiction issues, died of alcohol poisoning on July 23, 2011.

The exhibition, which will contain a number of Winehouse's personal items as well as her stage looks, will open on Friday, November 26.

Pieces on display will include the yellow Preen dress and Moschino bag worn by Winehouse to the 2007 Brit Awards, as well as handwritten lyrics and the star's blue Daphne Fender Stratocaster guitar.

"Discover the story of Amy’s early career through her recordings and teenage notebooks to unravel the creative process behind her music, and pay tribute to her rich range of influences, from Dinah Washington to Mark Ronson, Camden to '60s pop, Motown to jazz," the Design Museum said, ahead of the show's opening.

Proceeds from the exhibition, which has been created in collaboration with the singer's estate, will go towards the Amy Winehouse Foundation, a charity set up by the star's family following her death to support people facing addiction and mental health issues.

The show also features an installation designed by artist Chiara Stephenson, while a mural of the singer will be on display on London's Camden High Street, to celebrate the launch of the exhibition, until Tuesday, September 28.

Winehouse’s friend and creative director Naomi Parry, who worked as a special adviser on the project, said she hoped the exhibition would clearly define Winehouse as an artist rather than the media portrayal.

“Often the portrayal of Amy is focused on the negative aspects of her life, while this exhibition will take visitors through all that she achieved and highlight the incredible mark that she left on the lives of her fans all around the world," said Parry.

Grammy winner Winehouse, whose 2006 album Back to Black is still the UK's second bestselling album of the 21st century, was also the subject of Reclaiming Amy, a BBC documentary released in July that featured interviews with her closest friends and family.

Updated: September 19, 2021, 6:44 AM