Vivienne Westwood: A Spectacular Collection in Honour of the Revolutionary Designer

The passing of Vivienne Westwood marks one of the most heart-breaking losses the fashion world feels to date. If you haven’t heard, you can find out more here at sseditorial runway. We have seen many designers pay tribute to her in their shows throughout fashion month. Some key members of the industry even attended her memorial in February. Paris Fashion Week, however, hosted the first Vivienne Westwood show since the iconic designer’s passing last December. This made the show a particularly emotional one.

The Influence of Vivienne Westwood

Since her passing, many designers have incorporated ‘Westwood-isms’ into their collections. This was to honour the revolutionary designer. Marc Jacobs even went as far as to dedicate his entire collection, titled ‘Heroes’ to Westwood. The show presented many punk references, including Marc Jacobs’ famous Kiki Boots, which clearly took inspiration from Westwood’s iconic Gillie platforms. There were also billowing silhouettes, petticoats and punk hairdos, all working to honour Vivienne’s work.

Like other designers, Westwood’s husband and co-designer, Andreas Kronthaler, ensured they intended to honour her memory through their FW23 collection. Vivienne was present at every moment. From her face appearing on a t-shirt at the show’s opening to Cora Corré’s (Vivienne’s Granddaughter) closing look, she was everywhere. The collection was even named after Vivienne’s place of birth, Tintwistle. 

The Masturbation Skirt

The collection was full of designs that took inspiration from her most iconic works. Kronthaler even re-worked her famous ‘masturbation skirt’. He shared in a poem that was featured in the show’s notes.

‘In everything we will show, I thought of you and where you came from, from the North of England. The ‘masturbation skirt’, do you remember? From a long time ago. How much we laughed when we made it. I worked on it again’.

Kronthaler

In fact, the poem shared the many ways that Vivienne was present in the collection. From the petticoat skirts that were her ‘absolute favourite’ to the iconic platform heels that Kronthaler recounted pleasant memories of.

‘You once said to me that you can take everything away, just leave me my platform shoes because one can’t do without them.’

Kronthaler

Injected With Memories

But her memory was infused with more than just the designs. Many of the looks were made from the fabrics that Kronthaler and Westwood collected together, injecting the collection with general and personal history.

‘I used some of our antique fabrics that we collected together to give them new life; I hope you don’t mind.’

Vivienne Westwood revolutionised the fashion industry; her daring designs and rebellious spirit have transformed this world, and her influence will continue. Vivienne’s work has inevitably influenced every young designer presenting today. Even designs that seemingly couldn’t appear further removed from Westwood’s would not have been possible without her.

It is impossible to say just how much Vivienne Westwood changed this industry. Perhaps Andreas said it best, closing his poem with maybe the most concise way to encapsulate Vivienne Westwood’s spirit.

‘Maybe the most important thing you ever taught me was to put the woman on a pedestal.’

Kronthaler