Diva delights at London's V&A: Worshipping at the altar of flamboyance and glamour

Diva, meaning goddess in Italian, describes a demanding, difficult to please woman. But a new exhibition is reclaiming the term by celebrating megastars from Elton to Tina to Whitney. Suzanne Harrington takes a look

Cher, Elton John and Diana Ross at Rock Awards Santa Monica Civic Auditorium 1975.

We all adore a diva — from a safe distance. You may not want to be in the same room as one, in case they threw a phone at your head, but a new exhibition at London’s V&A invites us to safely worship at their flamboyant altar, showcasing goddesses from the 19th century to the present day. And what a collection it is.

From Maria Callas to Lizzo, Theda Barra to Tina Turner, Mae West to Siouxsie Sioux, Diva, which opens June 24, features eye-popping glamour and fabulous costumes. Among the 60 featured outfits is the classic perfection of Edith Piaf’s little black dress from the 1950s; Debbie Harry’s pink and yellow mini-dress from a 1979 tour; Elton John’s bonkers Louis XIV confection designed for his 50th birthday party in 1997, complete with towering powdered wig and train; Shirley Bassey’s 2007 diamante-studded Glastonbury wellies worn on stage with a pink Julian MacDonald couture gown; and Janelle Monae’s show-stopping vulva trousers designed by Duran Lantink for her ‘Pynk’ video in 2018 (being gay, Lantink said he had to google what a vulva actually looks like before creating the design).