Grace Jones is a slave to the rhythm of postmodernism

Grace Jones's unconventionality obviously extends to her choice of maternity wear.

Angular and fluorescent, her apparel during a 1970s pregnancy was conceived (as was the baby) by her then boyfriend, designer Jean-Paul Goude.

Witty and bizarre, it is the perfect centrepiece for a blockbuster exhibition celebrating postmodernism at the V&A later this year.

The 1970s and 1980s will return to London in Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990, opening in September. More than 250 pieces will be sourced for the show from across design and popular culture, including costumes from the 1982 film Blade Runner and David Byrne's oversized suit, most famously seen in the 1984 concert film Stop Makin' Sense.

New Order's stand-out track "Bizarre Love Triangle" from the 1986 album Brotherhood – aptly featuring the lyrics "Why can't we be ourselves like we were yesterday?" – will be played to departing visitors .

"We have included these pieces in the display because people who wouldn't necessarily know about architecture and design would still recognise the way post-modernism had spread across other parts of popular culture," said Glenn Adamson, who is the V&A's head of graduate studies and is the show's co-curator along with Jane Pavitt, head of the Royal College of Art's head of history of design.

The singer Annie Lennox will be guest of honour at the show's launch.