Wonder Woman costumes going on show in Liverpool

Costumes created for blockbuster films including Wonder Woman, Captain America and Die Another Day are going on show in Liverpool.

The free exhibition – Pop Artisans – opens at The Gallery in Stanhope Street on November 18, and is the first solo show for London leather designers and film costumiers Whitaker Malem.

It will also feature their work seen in Batman: The Dark Knight trilogy, as well as sculptural fashion pieces and new artworks, bringing together the worlds of fashion, art and film.

Kick ass metallic leather armour from this summer’s superhero smash hit Wonder Woman is likely to be one of the stars of the show. The film’s costume designer Lindy Hemming commissioned Whitaker Malem to create the look, which draws heavily on the style and technique of their fashion work.

Patrick Whitaker and Keir Malem first met in 1986. Whitaker was studying fashion design at Central Saint Martins Sshool of art and Malem was working at the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn.

They first worked together when Malem helped Whitaker with his degree show collection in 1987, which featured a formed leather bustier, and then set up their fashion design business the following year.

They designed clothes for stars like Cher, Paula Abdul and the late George Michael, before moving in to film where viewers might have seen their work in movies like Eragon, Harry Potter, Jack the Giant Slayer, Troy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Beauty and the Beast (the red leather jacket worn by Luke Evans), and Eva Green’s armour for 300: Rise of an Empire. The Liverpool show is in conjunction with Duo vision, Homotopia and Arts Council England.

Whitaker Malem Pop Artisans is at The Gallery from November 18 to December 10.