As an individual with a strong passion for sustainable fashion and textiles, Vivienne Westwood’s controversial approach to fashion design hugely inspires me. I was reminded of her influential presence within the ethical and eco fashion industries whilst reading ‘Fashion Made Fair’ and I have been naturally inquisitive to investigate Westwood’s iconic career further. In ‘Fashion Made Fair’ a chapter dedicated to Vivienne Westwood as an advocate of ‘fashion with a message’ offers a broad overview of the designer’s career with a lucid account of her Spring/Summer 2016 ‘Politicians R Criminals’ collection catwalk. From this initial research I gained a deeper insight into Westwood’s prominent presence within British Fashion since the 1970’s as well as some of the complex conceptual and political ideologies behind her work.

Photograph of Vivienne Westwood’s ‘Politicians R Criminals’ Spring/Summer 2016 Collection, Book Chapter ‘Vivienne Westwood, UK’ Photographer unknown
K, Ellen and S, Magdalena (2016) Fashion Made Fair, London

Westwood’s identity as a designer, in my opinion, is clearly reflected in the photograph I have selected of her ‘Politicians R Criminals’ collection. The way it is modelled as if it were a political protest: full of energy, enthusiasm and community strongly juxtaposes with stereotypical contemporary fashion shows, highlighting her controversial presence within the fashion industry. I was particularly fascinated by this collection and chose to conduct further research on the official Vivienne Westwood website which I found noted in ‘Fashion Made Fair’ (evidencing its reliability as a source). Simply reading the opening description for the Red Label Spring/Summer 2016 Collection introduced me to Westwood’s radical approach to fashion as a tool to encourage society to question the current paradigm. I have been specifically influenced by this extract from the collection description:

“The most important philosophical question ever asked is “what is a good life?” A good life is one which mirrors the world. That means that you understand the world through art and culture. You understand the genius of the human race and you understand yourself in relation to it. You’re like a little tiny shard of mirror glass that’s exactly a copy of the whole world. You’re very beautiful because you understand the beauty of the world and you understand the human race and you want to do your best.”

I was then particularly interested to learn about Westwood’s collaboration with the Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) in ‘Fashion Made Fair’. The Africa Bag Collection fuses ethically and environmentally sustainable craftsmanship to create products that reflect her all-encompassing motto of “quality rather than quantity”. After further research I found a reliable online article from ‘the Guardian’ website titled ‘From King’s Road to Kenya: Vivienne Westwood’s new fashion journey’ by Clar Ni Chonghaile which briefly mentions the use of recycled materials in Westwood’s Africa Bag Collection including second-hand clothing, brass from old taps and recycled safari tents.

Photograph of Vivienne Westwood’s 2015 Limited Edition ‘Squiggle Leopard Runner Holdall’ in Kenya, Africa, Photographer unknown
Accessed at http://www.viviennewestwood.com/en-gb/blog/celebrating-five-years-made-africa-bags

Given my particular interest in recycling I chose to investigate this further through visiting the page on ‘Artisan Fashion’ on the official Vivienne Westwood website. I explored this source through watching an inspirational documentary and reading further articles with a more detailed account of the collaboration in Kenya, Africa. I have been hugely inspired by Westwood’s genuine enthusiasm to bring about greater change in the world. Rather than just to appeal to a consumer market with ethical and moral values, I noticed and felt touched by her genuine humanitarian philosophy. Here I have selected a photograph of a bag produced within this initiative in the context of its location of manufacture, demonstrating a global example of how Westwood’s work has a positive social and environmental impact.

Finally I directed my research towards prominent museum websites, primarily focussing on the Victoria & Albert Museum which offered a range of reliable and informative resources on this iconic designer. The section titled ‘Vivienne Westwood’ on the V&A website provides an extensive catalogue of her work including an invaluable visual guide to Westwood’s career, depicting prominent pieces from her collections. This offered me a more comprehensive understanding of Westwood’s aesthetic identity as a designer in context with her role as an activist. To conclude I have chosen to end with a quotation I found on the V&A website from Vivienne Westwood:

“I’ve constantly tried to provoke people into thinking afresh and for themselves, to escape their inhibitions and programming.”

Screenshots from ‘Vivienne Westwood’ on the V&A Museum Official Website
Accessed at https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/vivienne-westwood

Bibliography:

http://www.viviennewestwood.com/en-gb/collections/red-label/spring-summer

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/24/kings-road-kenya-vivienne-westwood

http://www.viviennewestwood.com/en-gb/blog/celebrating-five-years-made-africa-bags

http://www.viviennewestwood.com/en-gb/content/the-history

http://www.viviennewestwood.com/en-gb/content/materials

https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/vivienne-westwood-punk-new-romantic-and-beyond