Gucci's 'House Style' Exhibition Opens at Chatsworth House Tomorrow

No amount of rubbing shoulders with the English upper crust is enough for Gucci designer Alessandro Michele, it seems. Having commandeered Westminster Abbey in London for use as a fashion runway last year, the Roman fashion power is sponsoring the House Style: 5 Centuries of Fashion at Chatsworth exhibition, a fashion extravaganza at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. Chatsworth is the stately home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and their glamorous forebears in the Cavendish family. Those forebears include Bess of Hardwick, who wielded extraordinary influence in the 16th century, and an 18th-century Duchess of Devonshire, Georgiana Cavendish, who was dubbed the Empress of Fashion. The highlights of the show include couture by Jean-Philippe Worth and Christian Dior, and modern clothes created by Helmut Lang, Maison Margiela, Erdem, Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane, Vetements and, of course, Gucci. The curator of the exhibition is a Vogue journalist, Hamish Bowles.

The exhibition runs from March 25 to Oct 22. Visit www.chatsworth.org