By Natalie White

Couture gowns that have been designed by some of the most famous names in fashion will soon be on display at the Fashion Museum in the city of Bath in United Kingdom.

These instantly-recognizable names include Madeleine Vionnet, Elsa Schiaparelli and Christian Dior, as well as Yves St Laurent, Ossie Clark, Bill Gibb and Alexander McQueen.

The Great Names of Fashion exhibition opens on 31 January and will showcase some 20 works by these stellar designers - principally glamorous evening dresses worn by some of the leading personalities of their day.

"This is what the Fashion Museum collection is all about: beautiful, exquisite, clever, inventive, astounding, amazing, intriguing items of dress, created by master craftsmen and women, whether in couture houses, tailoring and dressmaking workshops, or at home with needle and thread."

Fashion Museum Manager Rosemary Harden adds, "The Fashion Museum displays next year are about the work of the biggest names in fashion: Dior and Balenciaga, Lucile and Lanvin, Schiaparelli and Vionnet, Yves Saint Laurent and Ossie Clark, Bill Gibb and Alexander McQueen."

For more information, go to //www.fashionmuseum.co.uk/events/great-names-fashion