Vivienne Westwood

VIVIENNE WESTWOOD Punk & glamour A PRIVATE COLLECTION october 3, 2020 – may 9, 2021 “ The fight is no longer between the classes or between rich and poor but between the idiots and the eco-conscious.” “ The sexiest people are thinkers.” “ Buy less, choose well & do it yourself!” “When in doubt, overdress.” “ It is not possible for a man to be elegant without a touch of femininity.” “ Wear a towel instead of a coat, it’s very chic. Or your husband’s boxer shorts with a belt, or something from your grandmother. It’s all about do-it-yourself at the moment.” – Vivienne Westwood – 2 – INTRODUCTION Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood (b. 8 April 1941) is responsible for bringing modern punk and new romantic fashions into the mainstream. Along with individual tailoring, knitting techniques and as a supporter of political causes – Vivienne Westwood is the original punk rocker! This show illustrates her five decades in fashion – from her origins in the Do-It-Yourself of punk and her evolution into the glamour of haute couture. Westwood’s illustrious fashion career first began with Malcolm McLaren, future manager of punk band Sex Pistols, in the 1970s. Together they created clothing, which they sold from premises at 430 Kings Road, London. Their aesthetic shocked a conservative 1970s England featuring bondage suits made from military tartan, tops adorned with pins and bearing slogans like “Destroy” superimposed over a nazi swastika, and t-shirts featuring provocative images such as a pair of cowboys naked from the waist down. The shop on King’s Road went through a number of name changes – “SEX”, “Seditionaries”, “World’s End” – each reinvention opening up yet another imagined world. When her partnership with McLaren ended, Vivienne turned to tradition and craft. From the mid-1980s she rooted her work in tailoring and the self-taught Westwood apprenticed herself to the skills necessary to cut, sew and fold cloth. Westwood’s “mini-crini” design from 1985, a combined mini-skirt and Victorian crinoline was a turning point. For the next two decades, she created collections that took inspiration from classical sources, notably the paintings of 18th century painters Jean-Honoré Fragonard, François Boucher, and Antoine Watteau. Facsimiles of favourite paintings were printed directly onto her designs, for example Boucher’s Daphnis and Chloe, a painting held in London’s Wallace Collection. The Westwood logo, the orb and ring, used since 1985 is quintessentially British; part of the royal regalia held by the Queen at the ceremonial State Opening of Parliament. Together with the ‘Saturn’ ring this logo represents the taking of tradition into the future. In 1988, the Austrian designer Andreas Kronthaler met Westwood at the Vienna School of Applied Arts where she was a professor. He moved to London to work with her, in 1991 they designed their first joint collection, and two years later, they got married. Westwood has come a long way from maverick designer, to gradually becoming part of the establishment and in 1992 she received an Order of the British Empire and in 2006 the title of Dame Commander for her outstanding contribution to British fashion. Her clothes and products are today sold in more than 50 countries. Westwood remains a figurehead and creative force in fashion whilst she remains a passionate and committed activist. Over the years both her and her clothing have become increasingly more politicised. Westwood campaigns for freedom of speech, against climate change, protests to end fracking and advocates for the preserving the Arctic from mineral speculation. On display, curated by English collector Lee Price, are circa 350 items designed by Westwood, spanning from the 1970s to the 2010s. In addition, we show pictures taken by photographer Ki Price, where Westwood appear on both glamorous catwalks and on the streets of London, during political campaigns. – 3 – 1970’s BIRTH OF PUNK Vivienne Westwood’s illustrious fashion career first began with her business and romantic partnership with Malcolm McLaren in the 1970s. McLaren was heavily influenced by the situationist movement, a group of avant-garde political revolutionaries that rejected capitalist authority and saw as its mission to subvert and challenge the bourgeois status quo through interventions. Together Westwood and McLaren created clothing inspired by this movement, which they sold from premises at 430 Kings Road, London. Their aesthetic shocked a conservative 1970s England featuring bondage suits made from military tartan, tops made from cheesecloth or muslin adorned with pins and bearing slogans like ”Destroy” superimposed over a swastika, and t-shits featuring provocative images such as a pair of cowboys naked from the waist down. Worn perhaps most famously by the band the Sex Pistols, the style known as “punk” resonated with the disenfranchised youth of London and issued a creative rebuke to establishment mores. Except for the Sex Pistols, Westwood’s and McLaren’s creations was worn by among others Billy Idol, Iggy Pop, Souxie Souix, Mick Jagger, New York Dolls, The Clash, Lou Reed, Rudolph Nureyev, Anita Pallenberg and Madonna – to name a few. Following the breakup of the Sex Pistols and the evolution of Punk into a more mainstream movement and realizing “we need ideas not kicking down a door” (Morrison, 2012), Westwood and McLaren moved on. The shop on King’s Road went through a number of name changes – ‘Sex’, ‘Seditionaries’, ‘World’s End’ – each reinvention opening up yet another imagined world. Westwood treated history and culture as a dressing-up box from which to recreate the self as a flamboyant and spectacular creature. They made clothes based on the costume of native Appalachians, swashbuckling pirates and a shocking inversion of underwear as outerwear. Their collections were exuberant, joyous and morphed into yet another musical movement centred on the Kings Road shop – New Romanticism characterised by Darcy shirts, sack and buckle boots and caped drama. While visiting McLaren in New York, where he had begun spending more time absorbed in music, Westwood also met the pop artist Keith Haring, discovering a mutual admiration for each other’s work. She later used some of his graffiti inspired designs in her collection including the Robot and Barking Diablo Dogs. By dramatically contrasting with the prevailing conservative social norms, the clothing gave the individuals who wore them a confidence and the opportunity to express themselves – Westwood’s fashion represented freedom. – 4 – 1980’s A WELL-TAILORED REBEL When her partnership with Malcolm McLaren ended Westwood turned to tradition, craft and from the mid 1980’s she rooted her work in tailoring and the self-taught Westwood apprenticed herself to the skills necessary to cut, sew and fold cloth. Rather than something to rail against Westwood found a creative wellspring in tradition, with her clothes increasingly taking reference from the pattern books of British history and culture using traditional fabrics such as Lochcarron tartan and Harris Tweed. The Westwood logo – “The Orb and Ring” used since 1985 is quintessentially British; part of the royal regalia held by the Queen at the ceremonial State Opening of Parliament. Together with the ‘Saturn’ ring this logo represents the taking of tradition into the future. Yet although the clothing evokes tradition, they never lose the playful edginess characteristic of her designs, the clothing remains distinct with slightly twisted hems and button lines, or odd junctures of texture, material and pattern. In April 1989 Westwood appeared on the front cover of Tatler Magazine dressed as then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, even wearing the suit that had been ordered for Thatcher but had not yet been delivered. The April Fool’s edition ”This woman was once a Punk”, was included in The Guardian newspapers list of the best ever UK magazine covers. 1990’s A STORM IN A TEACUP With a point of departure in the English tradition, Westwood keeps exploring and re- interpreting history and in particular the art history and its references. In the fall/winter collection of 1990, the typical Westwood corset was introduced. It has since become a signature piece. The models on the catwalk looked like they had just stepped out of a painting. The collection by The Wallace Collection, Westwood’s´ favourite museum, was the main source of inspiration. The clothing was made of faux fur, lace, velvets, tweeds, city stripe cottons and barathea wool. The collection Cut & Slash of 1991 was the first men’s collection and shown at the Pitti palace in Florence. The clothing was androgynous and used reference points from 18th Century Court Dress and 19th Century dandies. During the fashion show of the collection Anglomania fall/winter 1993 Westwood introduced a new registrated tartan, MacAndreas, named after her husband Andreas Kronthaler. The fashion show is famous for the incident where Naomi Campbell fell while wearing super elevated shoes. – 5 – 2000’s FASHION AS ACTIVISM At the beginning of the 21st century, Westwood moved further away from historicism, and returned to a more asexual cut, in comparison to the previous tailored cuts such as corsets with accentuated waistlines and bustiers. Westwood has come a long way from maverick designer to gradually becoming part of the establishment and in 1992 she received an Order of the British Empire and in 2006 the title of Dame Commander for her outstanding contribution to British fashion. She is the figurehead of her eponymous firm; her clothes and products are sold in more than 50 countries and over 700 points of sale worldwide across all five continents. Over the years both her and her clothing have become increasingly more politicised. She has used her exalted position to provide vocal support for the Occupy movement, the work of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange and the informant Chelsea Manning. She has been involved in amnesty cases such as that of Leonard Peltier a Native American thought to be have been wrongly convicted in the USA.

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