David Bowie: V&A to home 80,000 artifacts from the late musician’s life - including Alexander McQueen jacket

The life work of music pioneer David Bowie will be available for all to see, as the V&A Museum in London has acquired around 80,000 pieces of history from the singer’s life. V&A have long had an affinity to the London native, having mounted an exhibition in 2013 with some of the items from Bowie’s archive - which led to a tour around the world of the items that saw 2 million people visit the exhibit in their locale.

Amongst the 80,000 items that V&A has acquired from the David Bowie estate include manuscripts from his work with Brian Eno and handwritten lyrics for songs including Fame, Heroes and Ashes to Ashes.

Stage costumes include Ziggy Stardust outfits, flamboyant creations for the 1973 Aladdin Sane tour and the union jack coat designed by Bowie and Alexander McQueen for the cover of the 1997 album Earthling.

Instruments used during the recording of the many celebrated albums by David Bowie, including a synthesizer used by Brian Eno and a stylophone that was a gift from Marc Bolan in the late 60s and used on Bowie’s Space Oddity recording will also be included in the new collection.

Such is the size of the collection that V&A has announced that in 2025, they will be housed at the David Bowie Centre for the Study of Performing Arts; a dedicated centre not only for the historical legacy of Bowie but as Tristram Hunt, the V&A’s director, states, a “new sourcebook for the Bowies of tomorrow.”

“David Bowie was one of the greatest musicians and performers of all time,” he added. “The V&A is thrilled to become custodians of his incredible archive and to be able to open it up for the public.

“Bowie’s radical innovations across music, theatre, film, fashion and style – from Berlin to Tokyo to London – continue to influence design and visual culture and inspire creatives from Janelle Monáe to Lady Gaga to Tilda Swinton and Raf Simons.”

The news has also led celebrity fans to celebrate the news and the historical archiving of one of music’s most influential artists. “Bowie is a spectacular example of an artist who not only made unique and phenomenal work but who has an influence and inspiration far beyond that work itself” Tilda Swinton, the actor and friend of the star, said.

“In acquiring his archive for posterity, the V&A will now be able to offer access to David Bowie’s history, not only to practising artists from all fields, but to every last one of us, and for the foreseeable future.”