Ask a Curator: The Stories Behind AMPA’s Biggest Diva Costumes

It’s a big week for the pop-loving, celebrity-crazed friends in your life. The Australian Museum of Performing Arts (AMPA) opens on December 11, and its first exhibition spotlights the fashion of divas. 

The blockbuster exhibition comes all the way from London’s revered Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), and features more than 250 objects, 60 of which are costumes. It’s a celebration of the diva, and a chance to reclaim the term often levelled at confident, ambitious prominent women with gumption. “It’s a strong word, it’s a powerful word. It’s got many meanings and it’s got a brilliant story,” V&A senior curator Kate Bailey says.

Fashion plays a crucial part in crafting the diva persona. Think of some of our favourite larger-than-life performers – Elton John, Lady Gaga, Pink, Grace Jones, Prince – and their character is inextricably attached to their sartorial image. All those artists feature in Diva, alongside Australian icons like Dame Nellie Melba, Olivia Newton-John, Jessica Mauboy and Amyl and the Sniffers frontwoman Amy Taylor.

Diva arrives in Melbourne as an Australian exclusive. The V&A developed and hosted the exhibition in London in 2023. Bailey, who curated the original V&A show, also curated the international section of AMPA’s Diva. Here, she picks out some of the most notable costumes from the exhibition and explains their significance.  

Rihanna

Rihanna attends the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on 7 May 2018 in New York City

“One of the most instantly recognisable looks is the ensemble worn by Rihanna for the Met Gala where she was presented as a pope. It’s an extraordinary look that was designed by Maison Margiela. She was at the Met Gala wearing this incredibly powerful piece. When you see it up close, it’s absolutely stunning, it’s exquisite … [She was] subverting the idea of the Pope and playing with status and power. The Maison Margiela piece, to see it up close when you’ve seen it so frequently in magazines and on social media, is really jaw-dropping.

“There’s something incredibly powerful about Rihanna performing at the Met Gala – not performing as a singer, but performing as the diva, on the red carpet. The weight of this garment is quite extraordinary. That was one of the things that I couldn’t quite believe – the way she had to inhabit this costume and actually have an evening at the Met Gala, when it’s actually quite an endurance to [wear] it.”

Marilyn Monroe

“We have divas represented in film, and thinking about the Hollywood diva … we have a Marilyn Monroe costume, which features [in] Some Like It Hot. That offers us a very different perspective on a diva performing as a character. It’s one of those images that’s become so iconic … [Marilyn created] a pivotal, iconic narrative, which I think many of the divas of the 21st century look back to, whether it’s through their style or through image. Seeing this black costume with its tassels, being able to see it up close next to the costume projected in the film, just allows you to think about Marilyn’s story and the power of a diva as a performer within a film context.”

Cher

“We have several garments that have been designed by Bob Mackie, the costume designer. How [Mackie] designed these costumes for Cher’s stage shows gave her that sense of identity on stage, persona, and confidence as she built her diva career. There are lots of feathers, lots of iconic diva motifs … this is a performer’s costume. This is where the diva on stage is the spectacle. The costume speaks to them [and] their identity… These costumes become larger than life to reflect the power of the diva. We’ve got the trajectory of Cher in 1977, 1976 and then Cher in 2019, so you see that length of career and how one designer has worked with her to create these different looks on stage and built these personas.”

Tina Turner

“Tina Turner’s costume is really iconic. The costume that she wore, the flame dress, has become such a diva motif that’s been adopted and adapted by other divas. The Bob Mackie creation [has] got these wings, it's almost like a real goddess-style costume that really punches in its colour, in its form, in its richness of material. Under the lights, seeing this up close is incredible. That look became a look worn by Cher, worn by Tina Turner, worn by Beyonce, worn by Ru Paul, has become one of those looks that’s almost bigger than the diva.”

Kylie Minogue

“We’re beside ourselves with excitement that Kylie Minogue’s lending to the show and that we will have the costume designed by Thierry Mugler for Padam Padam. [It’s] from 2023, so it’s really up to date. I know that we’re also looking at Kylie’s career trajectory, but actually, I think [this piece demonstrates] Kylie’s strong sense of self and style, [showing that she’s] always innovating, always pushing what’s next.”

Diva will be on display at the Australian Museum of Performing Arts from December 11, 2025, to April 26, 2026.