Vivienne Westwood: From Punk to Funk

Eccentric Paris glam is only to be expected, when you attend the show of a lady who signs more political petitions, than flashy restaurant bills these days. Not only did she feature her involvement in the Leonard-Peltier case, but she had the studio walls spray-painted in graffiti to add to the experience for the audience.

In the past we’ve seen provocative messages plastered over some of her clothes. Take last summer’s collection for instance, named “Active resistance to propaganda”, where “I am not a terrorist” was printed across the chest. Last night’s theme continued the Westwood tradition. The words “I Am Expensiv” (sic) had been plastered over t-shirts, and she had both a hip-length cape and a skirt to match the grafittied walls.

Unlike most other shows this season, Dame Westwood introduced colours. Pink, purple, bottle-green and yellow were featured most strongly, but the stem colours were lighter shades of grey and crisp white. Shapes were loose-fitted as always - tucked, gathered and layered. There were no corsets and crinoline, no punk nor tartan, but this still wasn’t a far cry from our usual Westwood caricature. Energetic, vibrant and fun. Long live Viv.