Amy Winehouse exposed, in a sample about her life

On the wall of a London museum there is a page of the adolescence notebook of Amy Winehouse, written by hand, in which her "fame ambitions" are listed.It covers 14 objectives, including "being photographed by David Lachapelle" (the photographer who would later direct the music video of his song Tears Dry on Their Own) and "make a movie in which he seems ugly".

A decade after his death at age 27, the Amyand: Beyond the Stage (Amy: beyond the stage) in the design museum shows so much intimate things - like the list of objectives - as well as objects that point to theInfluences of the singer in an attempt to add new dimensions to the way we understand the short career and legacy of it, both often eclipsed by their struggles against addiction.

Winehouse's memory has been forged, in part, due to documentaries like Amy, from 2015, who won an Oscar, and artists who mention it as influence: "90% of my career I owe it to her," Adele said aboutA stage in 2016.

In an interview at the museum, Janis Winehouse, the singer's mother, commented that during growth the daughter was "difficult"."We had a relationship in which I said: 'Amy, no', and she took it as 'I continued, Amy', and so it worked," he explained.

Amy's stepfather, Richard Collins, added that the interpreter "was very strong, very charismatic, manipulative, lovely, malicious, hard head and knew how to sing, of course".

The sample is an attempt to add new dimensions to the way we understand Amy's short career and her legacy, both frequently eclipsed by their struggles against addiction.

The idea of making an exhibition that played many of these facets was taken to the design museum by Naomi Parry, friend and personal dressmaker of Winehouse, in the summer of 2020.After 10 years, Parry expected the public to have a receptive attitude and willing to think about Amy's story in a different way.

In the years immediately after his death, "people were not willing to talk about anything other than tragedy, which I understood," Naomi recently observed, who is an advisor to the exhibition, in a recent interview.But more recently, "I have needed that the narrative of the sample rotates slightly towards a more positive approach to Amy's life, because it was a real regret constantly seeing books, stories and negative things about my friend".

There was also another motivation.Last month some of Amy's belongings from his inheritance were auctioned, administered by the father, Mitch Winehouse."It was like our last chance to do this while we still had things under control," said Parry.

The exhibition travels through the evolution and influences of Amy Winehouse from the first years, while growing in the suburb of Southgate, north of London, to the black artists who inspired her, as well as the clothes and hair that formed her distinctive aesthetic.Here is a look at some of the exposed things and what they reveal about the singer.

Preen dress

In 2007 Winehouse weed a preen yellow dress, from the designers Thornton and Bregazzi, for the Brit Awards, the annual ceremony that celebrates British popular music.That year, Back to Black was nominated as an album of the year and Amy took home the prize for the best British female artist.

For Naomi Parry, the Brit Awards marked a time when the characteristic vintage style of the singer took body: the hive in the hair, the short dresses and the thick eyeline of the eyes.

The exhibition travels through the evolution and influences of Amy Winehouse from the first years, while growing in the suburb of Southgate, north of London, to the black artists who inspired her, as well as the clothes and hair that formed her distinctive aesthetic.

Winehouse customized the suit putting a black bodice underneath."When we did the test to set it.However, before the event, Amy tried it again using the bodice and decided that he preferred it like that.

Parry dijo que Winehouse personalizaba sus trajes a menudo: antes de una actuación, Naomi tuvo que cortarle la parte de abajo a un vestido de Dolce & Gabbana porque Amy lo quería más corto."It was always a topic," Parry recalls about arrangements."But she always won."

Installation "In The Studio"

This installation, created by the scenic and costume designer Chiara Stephenson, is inspired by Metropolis Studios, the London recording studio where in 2006 parts of the Amy back to black album were recorded and mixed.The "cabin" control built for installation reproduces images of winehouse, its contemporaries and influences.

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"It seemed like it would have happened overnight," says Naomi Parry about Winehouse's fame after the album's launch."Suddenly, Amy had the paparazzi camped directly at the door of her house.For anyone, have mental health problems, that's a lot."

Collection jacket

This garment belongs to the Métiers d'A Art 2008 collection of Chanel, designed by Karl Lagerfeld.On the presentation catwalk, many of the models carried hung and thick hairstyles, inspired by Amy.

Although Winehouse trusted his capacity as a singer, according to Naomi, "I think he left her completely speechless that people like Lagerfeld knew who they were and inspired her".

Amy Winehouse's influence on Haute Couture houses continued after her death -in 2012 Jean Paul Gaultier presented a line that paid an even more direct tribute to the singer-, as well as its effect on urban style in general.

"After Amy's death there were women through all the streets of London, Paris, New York who wore hives in all shapes in the hair," says Priya Khanchandani, curator of the exhibition."I think some people did it without necessarily realizing that it came from it."

Camden Square and Murray Street posters

In front of Amy's house, after his death in July 2011, fans and fans left written in these street posters."In the square the fans sang songs of Amy and cried," said Collins, the stepfather.

The City Council had planned to withdraw the posters and replace them, he added, but the Winehouse representative convinced the officials to deliver them to the family.

Naomi Parry, who lived with Amy from January to May 2011, referred to the public's response: "Looking at that moment, the number of people who felt her link with her to the point of experiencing physical pain" was really amazing, ".

Fred Perry collection

These selected items come from the 2010 collaboration between the clothing brand Fred Perry and Winehouse.

Naomi had talked with Amy the possibility of creating a brand together and thought that a collaboration with Fred Perry - marks that Winehouse loved and had strong connections with musical subcultures - would be a way that Amy enters the world of fashion.

Rememorating Winehouse's emotion before the perspective of working with that brand, Naomi described her as "that of a girl who is going to enter her favorite candy".

Working in the collection was an escape route for Amy, Parry said: "He was still doing something creative, but without music pressure.It was something new and something that could be dedicated thoroughly ".

Installation "In the candlestick"

It is a selection of written articles on Winehouse, many of which address their substance consumption.

"The exhibition aims to constitute an Amy and her legacy, but it would be impossible.At the time, the media frequently rationalized Winehouse or not "treated them with the gravity they owed," he said.

The notes included here qualify Amy as "a tortured soul" and "the great national priestess of hedonism".

Khanchandani worried properly frame this part of the exhibition, resorting to experts specialized in addiction and body image to do a workshop on the language of the sample."I wanted to change the speech to address these issues from a critical perspective," he said.

Translation: Román García Azcárate