‘Dirty Looks’ explores how dirt and decay have been used to defy beauty standards, and why it's going through a resurgence in young designers' work. As a counterpoint to glossy digital perfection, these varied practices point us to a new way of thinking about a sustainable fashion future.

The scenography of the show, by Studio Dennis Vanderbroeck, depicts a slowly decaying exhibition hall. Upstairs the plaster of the eight gallery bays cracks, splits, and falls apart, revealing the Barbican’s exterior tile-work, that in turn breaks and peels away from the walls. The lower galleries are hung with raw canvas, separating the emerging designer installations from the iconic, historic pieces upstairs. A rail system runs between each of the bays, holding the garments over exposed soil and high above the fractured plinths.

Interpretation is produced on a variety of recycled and sustainably-minded materials. Section panels are printed onto a recycled, laid packaging paper (with a slight coated sheen), applie to a rough-edged honeycomb board to give them depth away from the wall.

Exaggerated numbering – referencing early catwalk coding – is either printed on a heavy-weight board made from compressed, recycled, paper-pulp and positioned at the feet of the mannequins, or is printed onto paper partially made from recycled wool, hung with a raw aluminium ‘tag’ on the rail above.

This use of this raw aluminium also forms a backing to the introduction panel and captioning, which is placed angled at a large type-size on the base of plinths to avoid blocking the works.

Large-scale graphic titles show signs of distress through splattered and scuffed lettering, forming a contrast to the clean aluminium-edges of the text panels.

Each title was individually created on-site by stenciling a light toned base and then applying texture with sponges and brushes, reacting to the themes and works found in that particular section. This individuality is achieved by changing the density and application technique – dabbing, slashing, swiping – to create a unique expression for each piece of lettering.

A 112 page gallery guide accompanies the show containing floor-plans and extended caption information. The book is printed with numerous cover variations, layering dirt over the text to echo the hand-rendered title treatment within the exhibition design. The uncoated white board will get stained and marked as its handled, adding to these layers of grime.