Kate Middleton Joins Amanda Levete & Tristram hunt To Open V&A Exhibition Road Quarter

The Duchess of Cambridge helps open London's new V&A new exhibition and public spaces, launching a free public festival REVEAL celebrating the V&A's heritage and move to modernity with technology and performance. Lydia Hunt, age six and daughter of museum director Tristram Hunt, presented the Duchess with a posy bouquet.

Global headlines focused on Kate Middleton's Gucci dress, worn above her knee when she helped open a massive new wing at London's V&A Museum. Kate's shorter skirt reflects the V&A's expanded mission, written up in AOC's Salon article.  

Located a short walk away from her official residence, Kensington palace, the new V&A Exhibition Road Quarter is the museum's largest architectural project in the last 100 years.

The facility, which was 75% funded by four private donors, was completed in four years by British architect Amanda Levete and her practice, AL -A.  In her own words, Levete rejected more typically male architectural thinking about building higher into the sky, choosing instead to dig deeply into the womb below the V&A in a more modest but incredibly functional design statement. 

The British press was crazy for Kate's Jackie O, chic look -- and that's before her weekend-revealed haircut. See more photos at the Daily Mail. 

The Duchess was given a tour by Matt Hancock secretary of state for digital, Amanda Levete the architect of the extension and Tristram Hunt the director of the V&A