The “Diva” is on display in London. What does it take today to create one?

cWhat does it take today to be a diva? Dark glasses? A leopard on a leash? A Chihuahua stuffed into the Birkin? Two hundred million followers? A scandal? All and nothing. We live in a time of ephemeral trends, of celebrities that last a day or less. Instead, being a diva means entering the legend and staying there. finish in an exhibition like the one in London at the Victoria and Albert Museumm (until April 7, 2024) that with one word, “Diva”, consecrates a century of myths, from opera singers to silent actresses, from Hollywood goddesses to pop starsand exhibits 250 costumes, photos, films and clothes, some never seen before, as fetishes.

Diva, the exhibition in London

There is the only surviving dress Clara Bow, rebellious red-haired flapper, who surrounded herself with matching chow chow dogs (same hair color). There is the “flame dress”, flamboyant, sensual, aggressive, in which Tina Turner wore in 1977, and there is a place of honor for Cher’s amazing looks by Bob Mackie. There is the punk aesthetic of Debbie Harry (1979): her “pyjamas” of synthetic-elastic fabric are almost psychedelic. There is Norma’s sumptuous costume, a 1952 Covent Garden production, created for Maria Callas, the last true goddess of opera.

It all began with opera. Adelina Patti, frozen in the portrait of Franz Winterhalter (1865-70) between silks and puffs of chiffon was one of the first divines: three weddings, a 47 km crater dedicated to her on Venus, an angel’s voice. She is stingy, capricious and greedy. The term “Diva” derives from the Italian, born with the cinema at the beginning of the 1900s and consecrated by the star system. Francesca Bertini was her perfect prototype: with her beauty and her whims (she stopped acting for five o’clock tea, she would fall into the world), she inaugurated a style. But the most important ingredient, notes Vanni Codeluppi in Il divismo (Carocci), is distance: the Diva was sidereal, unattainable, far from ordinary mortals. The opposite of what happens with actresses-influencers and marketing-oriented influencers.

A firmament of no gender stars

There is something nostalgic, hypnotic, and a little funereal in the sequence of sixty looks that tell of a vintage phenomenon, certainly radically changed, admits the curator of the exhibition, Kate Bailey. That, adds a contemporary key to the impressive collection: «It was the divas, when many women could not study or have a career, who encouraged social and political change. Sarah Bernhardt, “the sacred monster”, Eleonora Duse’s only true rival, and Marie Lloyd, singer and actresswere among the first feminists, and the battle for equality has continued both with Clara Bow and Mary Pickford, in the silent era, and with the queens of Hollywood in the golden age: Vivien Leigh, Mae West and Marilyn Monroe (shown in the black fringed dress from Some Like It Hot ».

The first black superstar, the exotic Joséphine Baker, in her banana skirt, she was a civil rights activist and spy during WWII. Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin, ladies of jazz and blueshave been symbols of the black community. Grace Jones and Annie Lennox, but also Elton John (whose stunning Louis XIV look complete with wig and train was exhibited at the fiftieth birthday party) won a place in the exhibition for transforming feathered costumes and high heels into tools for reflection on gender and sexual identity. Therefore it is possible to include among the “divas” also Freddie Mercury, Prince and the drag queen Ru Paul.

Be a Diva today

The Diva, today, is a character, man, woman or non-gender, capable of continuously transforming and influencing society. «Let’s take Beyoncé and her song Formation. It’s a statement in defense of the Black Lives Matter movement and a show of pro-equality activism. The way she uses her voice in defense of feminism is as powerful as that of the divas of another era. Or Rihanna, proudly declaring her Caribbean heritage. Or Lady Gaga, which promotes a campaign in favor of the Lgbtq+ community» explains Kate Bailey. Thus, in 2018, we come to the “vulva pants” by Janelle Monáe, designed by Duran Lantink for the Pynk music video and Rihanna’s bishop’s miter in the spectacular outfit designed by John Galliano for the Met Gala. The Cardinal of New York, Timothy Dolan, joked about it: «I lent it to him, he gave it back to me this morning».

We have divas like Liz Taylor, who had no illusions about the cruelty of the star system:“I was pronounced dead. I read my obituaries, and they were the best reviews she ever had.’ She anti-worldly divas, like Joan Baez. She divas capable of revolutionizing common sense, like Madonna. Owners of their work such as Barbara Streisand, Liza Minnelli or Dolly Parton with her ironic “Dollywood” theme park. Independent, in an industry controlled by men. But, beyond the meanings, the story that their relics tell fascinates (is it blasphemous to compare them to those of saints?). Amy Winehouse’s clothes (but also bras, DVDs, books, corsets, shorts and make-up for a total of 800 items) sold at auction fetching four million dollars.

Will influencers and tiktokers climb Olympus?

Amy died in 2011 and it seems a geological era has passed. The gods have come down to earth, popularity has increased and veneration has decreased. «The final passage occurs with the internet and social networks, thanks to which celebrity is so within everyone’s reach as to be trivialized» says Massimiliano Valerii, director general of Censis. «Just get the self-produced video right to post and you have thousands, if not millions, of contacts. Thus new VIPs were born, from youtubers to influencers, which in most cases turn out to be meteors rather than stars. And those who maintain popularity like to present themselves as ordinary people. You can be famous, but no longer a star» concludes Valerii.

It’s the end? Maybe yes, maybe it’s yet another transformation. Today the Diva is feminist, revolutionary, ambitious, creative, fluid. It indulges on Instagram. It is also a commercial phenomenon: it sells make-up, creams, shampoos, bags and jewellery. He sells pieces of his life. But the alchemy necessary to enter the myth is really difficult. 245 million followers are not enough (Kylie Jenner has many). And it’s not enough to be a legendary supermodel like Kate Moss. Let alone a tiktoker like Charli D’Amelio (the most followed in the world). They all send messages to the world with stage costumes, provocative looks, but who knows which ones could end up in an exhibition on stardom in half a century…

Will there be a Sunset Boulevard for influencers like for former silent diva Gloria Swanson-Norma Desmond? Perhaps, one day, at the Victoria and Albert Museum there will be Chiara Ferragni’s Dior and Schiaparelli seen in Sanremo 2023. The Diva is dead. Long live the Diva.

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