Dame Vivienne Westwood (1941-2022) has always been a rebel – and at the same time she has become a classic of British fashion: creator of punk aesthetics, British style, especially tartan and tweed, singer, updater of corsets in fashion, political and climate protection activist… All these vivid features of her designs the facets will have the opportunity to be evaluated at the Fashion Museum exhibition Vivienne Westwood: Personal collection of clothes and accessories, which was made in collaboration with the British collector Lee Price (Lee Price). One of the leitmotifs of the exhibition is Westwood’s own words: “Life is much better when you wear impressive clothes.”
Natalia Muzychkina, head of the Fashion Museum, admits: “Vivienne Westwood did what real reformers often do – she thoroughly shook the dusty fashion chest, looking at things through the prism of irony or denial. But then, as if jokingly, she created her own style, which almost immediately became a classic.”
The best fashion designers sat in the first rows at Westwood fashion shows, the next generation of designers was influenced by Westwood – John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Junya Watanabe, he was admired by Jean-Paul Gaultier, Christian Lacroix, Azedine Alaia, Karl Lagerfeld, Ray Kawakubo… Even Gianni Versace in the 90s at first could not resist the rebellious charm of punk and included elements of this style in their collections. How did a working-class girl from the English countryside, born during the Second World War, become an icon of British fashion design?
“Westwood’s life story is amazing – she got to the Olympus of fashion design, where no one expected her… But she had a survivor’s defiance – and an extremely fresh perspective on the world and fashion, which became the key to her success. She looked at everything inquisitively and inquiringly, like a child – this allowed her to generate ideas that would probably never occur to classically trained designers. A vivid example – Westwood once thought about why the neckline of T-shirts is placed symmetrically, and decided to move it a little to the left, “closer to the heart”, as she herself explained,” says Agrita Grīnvalde, a specialist at the Fashion Museum.
Vivienne Westwood did not learn classical design – she turned to fashion almost by accident. With partner Malcolm McLaren, who later became the most famous punk band of all time Sex Pistols managers, both ran a 1950s-style clothing and accessories store in London, 430 Kings Road. When difficulties began to appear in purchasing clothes of this style in the required quantity, Westwood gradually began to invent them and implement them herself with the help of seamstresses.
The store, which was opened in 1971 under the management of this creative tandem, changed its name and also its stylistic direction every few years, until the mid and second half of the 70s, under the name SEX and later Seditionaries, became the epicenter of punk style in London. The legendary store, now with a name World’s End, is still open and a favorite destination for Westwood fans from around the world. Vivienne Westwood, together with Malcolm McLaren, created the most iconic clothes of the punk style: T-shirts with provocative prints, bondage suits, as well as “parachute shirts”. Punk style clothing designed by Westwood will also be represented at the exhibition.
After the punk style, the romantic image of the pirate came to the attention of Westwood and McLaren, which perfectly resonated with the then fashionable The young romantics (New Romantic) focus on music and club culture. Your first official fashion show Pirate Vivienne Westwood – at that time still with her life and business partner Malcolm McLaren – showed in 1981. At that time, she had been designing clothes for about 10 years.
The first collections were followed by more and more new ones, and after her divorce from Malcolm McLaren, Westwood began to focus on the study of important themes, including British style. From the mid-1980s, Vivienne Westwood focused on typical British fabrics such as tweed, bright Scottish tartans, as well as classic red hunting jackets. Designers were increasingly fascinated by tradition and the opportunity to look at it with a fresh and often ironic perspective. “In studying the past, you are actually entering the future,” she has said. One of the most visually impressive in this sense is the Westwood collection anglomania, within which the costumes created will also be represented in the exhibition.
With English tradition and the establishment symbolized by tartan, tweed and impeccable tailoring, Westwood had a rather controversial relationship – well known for her hooligan walk to the Queen to receive the Order of the British Empire (OBE). Westwood was dressed in a restrained, conservative suit with a long skirt, but as she turned more sharply, the full skirt revealed to the eyes the fact that the designer had come without underwear. Photographers, of course, rushed to capture this moment.
Designers associated precisely the same conflicting feelings with French classical haute couture. Vivienne Westwood, on the one hand, admired the impeccable quality and intricate cut of haute couture gowns, but on the other hand, mocked their formal, stiff and stilted nature. From the beginning of the 90s, impressive evening dresses regularly appeared in her collections, in which Westwood looked back to the 18th-century pannier silhouette, the 19th-century crinoline silhouette, and the work of French haute couture designers in the mid-20th century.
“Fashion as we know it is an exchange of ideas between France and England,” Westwood admitted. The French theme in the designer’s works is significant – they are abundant references to the French Rococo style of the 18th century, which can be seen both in the 18th-century style corsets, which Westwood herself wittily called Stature of Liberty or Freedom pose, both in the motifs of paintings by Bouchet and other artists, which are widely used in prints. One of Westwood’s most recognizable prints – the gilded so-called “Bull Motif”, borrowed from an exquisitely beautiful early 18th-century mirror that once belonged to Countess Dubary, Louis XV’s scandalous lover – is also a striking sign of France. Westwood’s early 90s outfits used it liberally.
Starting out as an outsider and a rebel, over time, Westwood won not only the huge respect and admiration of her colleagues, fashion designers, but also a huge fan base among the stars. For example, the famous series Sex and the City in the motion picture version, the main character Carrie Bradshaw chooses a spectacular Westwood wedding dress. Sarah Jessica Parker, Kate Moss, Pamela Anderson, Gwen Stefani, Helen Bonham Carter and other great personalities of film, music and fashion often choose Westwood outfits. The same will be on display at the exhibition Westwood model of the dress that Sarah Jessica Parker wore in the movies Sex and the city 2 on the press tour.
Political activism, as well as calls to think about climate change and excessive consumption, which depletes our planet’s resources and pollutes it, is an important topic that Westwood increasingly focused on in the second half of his life. Ever since his punk days, Westwood has often used his outfits as a means of conveying a message. “Fashion is the most powerful form of communication there is,” she has said. When fashion is as compelling as Vivienne Westwood’s, there’s no choice but to listen to the message.
The costumes and accessories that will be on display at the exhibition are part of the British Lee Price (Lee Price) private collections. An avid Westwood fan since the age of 13, Lee used his pocket money as a teenager to travel to London and buy some of Westwood’s clothes – his first Westwood He still remembers the T-shirt… After that, with persistence and patience, he managed to get a job at the legendary Westwood store World’s Endwhile in 1998 Lee Price already became Westwood store manager in Leeds, northern England. Currently, Lee lives in Lyon, France and continues to add and improve his collection, which has already participated in several exhibitions in Scandinavia, France and Great Britain.
“To me, Westwood embodies Britishness and British heritage,” says Lee Price. “I see the clothes she creates as treasures of the future – and I am like a kind of guardian of these clothes, taking care of them. The wonderful thing about it all is that the Westwood collection will never be finished – there is always something more to do, something more to find – a never-ending quest for the holy grail.”
Exhibition for visitors Vivienne Westwood: A personal collection of clothes and accessories will be open from May 18.
The Fashion Museum – the only specialized fashion history museum in the Baltics – was opened in October 2016. It is located in Old Town, Grēcinieku street 24. The museum is private, it is managed by architect Natālija Muzichkina, the owner of the museum. Over the years, the museum has organized 12 exhibitions (this is the museum’s thirteenth exhibition), as well as organized dozens of lectures, classes, seminars and even theater performances. The museum also has an online book store that offers publications on fashion and style, expanding the opportunities of Latvian citizens to learn more about fashion as an essential part of culture that affects each of us.
* Brand Vivienne Westwood has not been involved in the curation or organization of this exhibition.
Museum opening hours: the museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.
Tags: fashion museum display outfits punk queen Vivienne Westwood Day
-
