Why it’s good to be a diva

What does the word “diva” mean to you? A talented artist dressed fabulously or someone self-important who makes extravagant demands for things such as fig-scented candles or pink M&Ms backstage?

When she conceived DIVA, the new show at London’s V&A, curator Kate Bailey had a central question in mind: “How have we gone from the idea of the diva as a goddess and the honouring of exceptionally talented artists, to the term being used as a kind of negative?”

By tracing the word’s roots from the advent of solo female singers in the 16th century, to the 19th-century heyday of the opera prima donna and the global stars of today, the show aims to explore and redefine the notion of the diva. It’s also fertile ground for showcasing arresting outfits: see the late Tina Turner’s 1977 flame dress designed by Bob Mackie, Janelle Monáe’s “vulva” trousers for her 2018 “Pynk” video and Rihanna’s Maison Margiela “pope” look for the 2018 Met Gala. Men are not excluded. The Louis XIV-inspired wig and train Elton John wore for his 50th birthday party in 1997 get their moment.

It was in the mid-19th century, after Bellini’s Norma premiered in 1831 with its soaring aria “Casta Diva”, that the Italian term for goddess began being used widely to confer honour on prominent female opera singers. “At that point, you get the critics and poets cementing this idea of the diva as an exceptional opera star, a prima donna,” says Bailey. “But it’s slightly through a male lens: a word for these kinds of unworldly performers who in reality were not in charge of their own lives.”

Today, the word is more often used to undermine, and Bailey says a certain negativity was present even in the glory days. “You start to find descriptions of how [Spanish-born Italian opera singer] Adelina Patti is demanding a car. Or doing her vocal exercises and wanting the temperature controlled.” By the time of the Hollywood era of Bette Davis and Mary Pickford — who in 1919 was the only woman among the founders of the United Artists production company — a new narrative was being presented. “When female performers try to step outside the status quo, they’re considered to be asking too much,” says Bailey.

The V&A show aims to reclaim the word by focusing on the power of star performances, where image is often key. Dramatic costumes, hair and make-up have always been part of diva-dom, and early prima donnas set the tone, matching their appearance and personalities to the size of their voices. Patti made so much money she was able to commission Morin-Blossier, a leading Parisian couture house, to make her onstage costumes. In the mid-20th century, Maria Callas, the Liz Taylor of the opera world, adored her French haute couture and diamonds. With her big hair, black eyes and exaggerated femininity, she provided the blueprint for the diva of her day.

These motifs — exaggerated glamour, notions of femininity and sensuality, a sense of drama — have continued to be riffed on by performers, male and female. “Any gender can be a diva,” says Bailey. “Elton John was playing with expressions of femininity in the ’70s and then Freddie Mercury and Prince.”

Ashish Gupta — who designed three bespoke sequinned logo T-shirts for Taylor Swift’s current Eras tour, along with a vampy red and black sequinned bodysuit and matching duster coat — says his nominations for “the major divas of the last century” include Joan Crawford, the drag queen Divine and Liberace. “Very larger-than-life, very extravagant. Everything is over the top,” he says. “With Joan Crawford it’s the eyebrows, the shoulders, the hair. It’s all so exaggerated and extreme and that just makes it really campy and fabulous. To me, you can’t have a diva without a sense of camp.” Miriam Margolyes, who plays up the quintessential diva in cape, pearls and a veil on the cover of the latest British Vogue, would no doubt agree.

Costume designers, fashion designers, stylists and hair and make-up artists have all played a vital part in creating the diva. Think of Madonna’s Jean Paul Gaultier pink pointed bustier worn with slashed pinstripe suiting on her 1990 Blond Ambition tour; Nicola Formichetti putting Lady Gaga in a “meat” dress for the 2010 Video Music Awards; Miley Cyrus rocking that gold-lame vintage Yves Saint Laurent gown from autumn/winter 1991 in the video for “Flowers”. When successful these looks provoke delight and debate (Cyrus’s dress fuelled reams of internet chat about a hidden meaning).

They can also pin a star in the cultural firmament. The V&A show includes eight spectacular works by American designer Bob Mackie, now 83, whose pieces have been worn by Cher, Tina Turner and, more recently, Pink. That we still associate Cher with those glittering “naked” dresses and extravagant headpieces of the 1970s and 1980s demonstrates their power. As with Turner, those looks helped Cher’s transformation into a powerful solo artist after breaking up with a husband and professional partner who controlled her career.

Today, the global visibility enabled by the internet keeps increasing the appetite for spectacle. Beyoncé’s look on each first night of her Renaissance world tour has been different — silver Paco Rabanne in Paris, a crystal Alexander McQueen bodysuit in Stockholm, a Valentino gown for Cardiff. She even released a track in 2008 called “Diva”, in which she redefined the word as “a female version of a hustler”, essentially saying talent is not enough for a female artist — she needs street-smarts and fortitude too.

At the opening of Beyoncé’s London gigs, she wore a flowing Yves Klein blue silk chiffon gown by designer Roksanda Ilincic. The hand-draped, pleated dress was adapted from the brand’s autumn/winter collection. “But it was made much more voluminous to present something that was an extension of the body and to fill the stage,” says Ilincic. “The proportions were exaggerated. To look at it on the stage you wouldn’t realise, but the train is almost five metres long.”

But can a diva be a diva without her costume? Bailey believes so, up to a point. “If you strip it all back, the voice will still be there,” she says. “There’s a moment in the exhibition where you hear Whitney Houston’s isolated vocals and there’s no denying that power. I’m also thinking about Lady Gaga performing at the Oscars this year in just jeans and a T-shirt. But to be able to do that you have to have earned your diva stripes first.”

‘DIVA’ opens June 24, vam.ac.uk