Fashion v Sport: Review

I know when you do a review, you should go in with a completely open-minded attitude, but I have to be honest - the idea of sport and fashion was about as far apart for me as chalk and cheese. I mean, most girls all know that you don't run in heels, and why, because sport and fashion are a no-no. In the words of Carrie Bradshaw herself: "Shopping is my cardio."

However, for the sake of this review, I thought to myself if it's good enough for Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood, then the least I had to do was give it a chance.

When I first entered the exhibition at Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery, I noticed how very stylish the crowd of people around me were. Clearly they had been as equally intrigued as me to see this Chanel fishing rod! Now, what I expect from a museum is heirlooms and ancient pottery - lots of random things that have been dug up from somewhere in the outback. Whilst yes, this exhibition has a taste of the old, it also has an exciting jolt of colour in the form of neon tracksuits and multi-coloured trainers galore.

The exhibition is divided into four sections: Dare, Display, Play and Desire. I found these a little bit pointless as everything in this exhibition really is of one theme. What the divisions do help me to do is to tell you that my favourite section was 'Dare.' Now I don't really know why it is called that but what I do understand is that here it becomes apparent why and how sports and fashion have collided. Here we see how designers like Vivienne Westwood have taken sportswear and made it fashionable.

What I didn't like about this exhibition was how you are given the impression that a lot of technology is used to help create certain fabrics and aid the function of sportswear, yet all the clothes just hang on plain mannequins with a small description of what it is written underneath. For an exhibition that feels so edgy and unique, I feel that the content was let down by the presentation. The exhibition really could have modernised visits to the museum yet you still get that dated feel from those tiny little descriptive cards that you practically have to get on your knees to read.

One thing I was surprised not to find was any work from Reebok, if I am incorrect here and I just missed it then please let me know. It was almost like Adidas and Nike were the only major sports brands featured. Did Reebok not collaborate with hot new designer, Christopher Shannon, only last year? It's certainly what I first recognised as a clash between fashion and sport. Surely that deserved to be featured.

The most interesting thing I loved about this exhibition was the Chanel Fishing Rod, something you could buy for the very reasonable amount of £30,000! Apparently, Karl Lagerfeld designed it as a tribute to Coco Chanel, as she had loved to fish. Something I don't think many people will know. This little piece of information is something I have already brought up in conversation with many people to which the majority have given the cliché response of: "Well you learn something new every day."

The fishing rod was part of the 'Desire' section. I assume this was named desire because that was what every woman was feeling when the saw the Armani advertising campaign with David Beckham.

Overall, I know that I enjoyed this exhibition due the fact that I couldn't stop talking about it for a week afterwards. Mainly what I did like about this exhibition was that, at the very mention of sport, I was able to take my boyfriend with me. Now, it is very rare for our two passions to collide but on this occasion they did and do you know what, he seemed even more engrossed than me. This exhibition appeals to both sexes, it is a clash of masculinity and feminism and the result is a bit like a relationship: opposites really do attract.

With 50 outfits and 120 objects, including contemporary sportswear, street wear, accessories and shoes, this definitely deserves a visit.

'Fashion v Sport' runs from 13 February to 31 May 2009 at the Walker Art Gallery.