The Story so Far

Collections:

Summertime, Spring-Summer 2000 – Final collection of the 20th century. – Symbolism of Bacchus, Roman god of agriculture, wine, and fertility. – Inspired by: Bacchanalia. – Pixelated print of fellatio. – Muted colours and florals. – Bestial shoes. – Tailored drapery. – The ‘Booze’ jacket. – Grass stains and red wine spillage. – Wool mélange.

Winter, Autumn-Winter 2000/01 – Inspired by: Shakespeare’s ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’. – Cloaks with hoods in fringed wool. – Weighty trompe l’œil jewellery in silver. – Soft jerseys. – Tracey Emin. – 16th and 17th centuries.

Exploration, Spring-Summer 2001 – Ode to literature. – “Reading is the biggest passion of my life, more than fashion” (Vivienne). – Aristotle, Aldous Huxley, and Bertrand Russel. – Photographic ‘Bookbinder’ print of Andreas and Vivienne’s bookshelves in Clapham. – Studies of butterflies and insects. – Folded rectangles of cloth like the pages of a book. – Soft tailoring. – Mocking the pipe-smoking intelligentsia.

Wild Beauty, Autumn-Winter 2001/02 – Cora Corré’s (Vivienne’s granddaughter) first appearance on the catwalk at 3 years old. – Mini kilts. – Tiger stripes. – ‘Animal’ cut. – Curved seams and jigsaw pieces like animal hide. – Crushing silk taffeta to create folds and creases. – Embroideries. – Sexual misbehavior.

Nymphs, Spring-Summer 2002 – Fragonard, Boucher and Watteau. – Mythological pastoral idylls. – Long feathered eyelashes. – Traditional striped rugby jerseys. – Angular construction. – Intentional unevenness. – “It’s incredibly lively-looking and nervous-looking” (Vivienne). – Giant corsages. – Models emerged from the foliage.

Anglophilia, Autumn-Winter 2002/03 – Second step from Anglomania. – Vivienne’s favourite red dress. – Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee. – Unfinished and undone. – Inspired by: Holbein and Boucher. – Fetishising Englishness. – Snagged argyll knits. – Madame de Pompadour gown. – Subdued palette. – Ribbons and tweeds.

Street Theatre, Spring-Summer 2003 – Fashion as an everyday spectacle and performance. – Rooted in punk. – The urban jungle. – Strapped and restrained. – Union Jacks. – Deliberate destruction. – Relaxed fits. – Geometric sections cut at different angles. – Reversible fine wool.

Le Flou Taille, Autumn-Winter 2003/04 – Fluidity. – Haute couture, tailoring and flou. – “The clothes look very spontaneous but they are incredibly well constructed underneath” (Vivienne for Vogue). – Daytime pyjamas. – Knee-high cossack boots. – Slip and slide. – Satin boxer shorts.

I Am Expensiv, Spring-Summer 2007 – Using Disney characters as a universal expression. – “Endearing heroines and repulsive baddies” (Vivienne). – Block colours. – Exploring the 21st-century obsession with wealth accumulation. – Cut-out lace. – Inspired by: Bowes Museum in Northumberland.

Wake Up Cave Girl!, Autumn-Winter 2007 – Hyper exaggeration of the female form. – “A sculpture in cloth” (Vivienne). – The Stone Age. – Dresses are named after the Flintstones. – Foundation corsets. – Carrie’s taffeta wedding dress in ‘Sex and the City’. – Customizable buttoned seams.

56, Spring-Summer 2008 – July 2007, British government proposed counter-terrorism legislation to imprison people without trial for 56 days, double the existing 28-day period. – Inspired by: 17th century ladies and prostitutes. – “What if Marilyn Monroe married an English lord with a country estate and they had a kinky relationship!” (Vivienne) – The prototype woman. – Pagan ritual. – Abstract graphics.

Chaos Point, Autumn-Winter 2008 – Primary school collaboration. – Freedom fighters in the jungle. – Symbols of CHAOS and Active Resistance. – The ecological crisis is reaching a tipping point. – Childish innocence. – Cut out paper dolls. – Theatrical and magical.

Do It Yourself, Spring-Summer 2009 – “In these hard times – Dress up. Do it yourself!” (Vivienne). – Tablecloths, safety pins, and curtains. – ‘Make Do and Mend’ ethos. – The wonders of drapery. – Signature corsets. – Recycling.

+5°, Autumn-Winter 2009/10 – Inspired by: colour and techniques of painter Andrea Mantegna. – Burnt orange, red and blue. – Renaissance armour translated into knitwear. – Pamela Anderson. – Ecological ‘Gaia’ hypothesis of James Lovelock. – Gaia. – Titled after scientific assertions that climate change would alter global temperatures to a new equilibrium, with catastrophic consequences.

Get a Life, Spring-Summer 2010 – Vivienne’s activism uniform. – Conservation. – Bleached stripes. – Lovelock’s ecological theories part two. – Plastic sleeves. – Powdered faces and high teased pompadours. – Hair up in flames. – Shredded ribbons. – Full skirts.

Prince Charming, Autumn-Winter 2010/11 – The ‘Principle Boy’ in pantomime. – Gender blurring. – “The kind of people you could meet in the Black Forest of Grimm’s Fairy Tales” (Vivienne). – Pencilled-on mustachios. – In solidarity with Marlene Dietrich.

Gaia The Only One, Spring-Summer 2011 – Dedicated to the curvaceous, the voluptuous, and the hyper-feminine. – Themes included Matisse, Commedia dell’arte and ballet. – Tutankhamun, Noh theatre, and little girls on the mountains in Peru, ‘waiting to marry the sun’. – Heart dresses. – Tutus and lampshade skirts.

World Wide Woman, Autumn-Winter 2011/12 – Female agency and power. – Mother Earth. – “It is women who forge the bonds of society” (Vivienne). – Golden brocade woven with faces of medieval icons. – Byzantine jewellery. – Tailoring as armour. – “They are the guardians of culture, most importantly in their creation of the salon (Napoleon agreed to ennoble his generals on condition that their wives opened a salon)” (Vivienne).

War and Peace, Spring-Summer 2012 – Confucianism. – Inspired by: Chinese and Tuareg dress. – Oversized historical corsets. – Tweed as armour. – Audience received a ‘family tree’ connecting Earth and science. – Progress and quality.

London, Autumn-Winter 2012/13 – 17th Century. – “I rely on historical reference. By engaging with human genius I have tried to capture the past in my fashion” (Vivienne). – The connection between theatre and everyday dress. – Andreas’ love for the city. – Unfinished hems. – Children’s drawings.

Climate Revolution, Spring-Summer 2013 – Inspired by: the articulation and colours of beatles. – Paintings of Velazquez. – Pattern found on a Chinese tea box. – Squiggle print. – Clomper shoes. – Waste reduction techniques. – ‘Square’ t-shirts and dresses. – Kate Moss campaign. – London 2012 Paralympic closing ceremony.

Save the Arctic, Autumn-Winter 2013/14 – Medieval Europe. – “I believe that designers always create a virtual reality: the(y) create clothes for a place that does not exist, somewhere better” (Vivienne). – Looking at 14th century illuminated manuscripts. – Models as illustrations. – Taffeta capes.

Everything is Connected, Spring-Summer 2014 – Shakespeare’s ‘Measure for Measure’. – Pilgrimage sandals. – Splattered mud. – Embroideries made from recycled sunglass lenses. – Frida Kahlo iconography references. – Tulle.

Save the Rainforest, Autumn-Winter 2014/15 – An homage to Charles Frederick Worth, the founder of haute couture. – Franz Xaver Winterhalter’s 1865 portrait of Empress Elizabeth of Austria. – Frilled capes. – Military fatigue. – Anti-fracking slogans.

Unisex – Time to Act, Autumn-Winter 2015/16 – ‘Bisexual’ looks. – A male, chest-baring ‘Westwood Bride’. – Soft and fluid versus heft and structure. – English hand-tailoring. – Playing with proportion. ‘It’s so sexual because it’s new. It makes you look at the person from the outside’ (Vivienne).

Mirror the World, Spring-Summer 2016 – Venice of the Renaissance. – Bellini, Giorgione and Titian. – 15th Century Murano mirror-manufacturing. – Pagan origins of Venice Carnival. – Jackets suspended on structures above models’ heads referencing the stilt-supported Palazzos. – Belle Epoque hats. – Final Gold Label show.