Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser

The exhibition also features many works by famous designers such as Iris van Herpen, Viktor & Rolf and Vivienne Westwood, who designed the cover of the 2015 special edition of Carroll’s book. In the introduction she wrote, the designer praises the novel for its skeptical approach to adult infallibility.

How did the image of Alicja develop? During the Victorian era, she appeared in the illustrations in dresses of various shades, while the famous blue dress we associate with her today is from the 1951 Disney animated film. It was there that we saw her as a blonde in a blue dress and black shoes. This image of Alice had previously appeared in Mary Blair’s illustrations, and was also a nod to John Tenniel’s original drawings. The shade of the dress was known as Alice blue since decades earlier it was worn by the writer, the eldest daughter of Teddy Roosevelt’s 26th President of the United States, Alice Roosevelt Longworth. Its silhouette, in turn, referred to the New Look of Christian Dior.

In 2003, the American “Vogue” published a memorable session in which Natalia Vodianova played the role of Alice. In each photo taken by Annie Leibovitz, the model was accompanied by a designer dressed as a character from Wonderland. Viktor & Rolf played the roles of Tweedledum and Tweedledee. John Galliano starred as the Queen of Hearts, Tom Ford as the White Rabbit, and Stephen Jones turned out to be, of course, the perfect Mad Hatter. Former creative director of American “Vogue” Grace Coddington later said it was “exhausting, exciting, magical” session. In 2018, photographer Tim Walker, whose entire early fairy-tale-like portfolio can be seen as his own wonderland, re-told a story written by Carroll for the Pirelli calendar shoot. It featured only black models – Alice was played by Duckie Thot dressed in blue and platform shoes, while the role of the imperious Queen of Hearts was played by RuPaul.