Vivienne Westwood: The Royal Rebellion
Known for her avant- garde approach to British fashion, Westwood rattled the industry and pushed boundaries.
Through a live model presentation, the Creative Production Collective takes the audience on a journey through the different eras of Vivienne’s life: sex, punk and royal rococo.
Throughout months of planning, we wanted our 2024 spring production to be bigger and better than the year before. How could we take a fashion show to the next level?
Only a year earlier the punk princess of fashion, Vivienne Westwood, had passed away. Serving as personal inspiration for many of us, we decided to use her story as the focus of our production.
We had three rooms to showcase her three eras of her design journey with live models to bring her story to life. With exceptional set design, avant garde garments and music we transported our guests to a world of British punk and rococo.
ROOM ONE: SEX
While people swayed in their bell bottom jeans and floral dresses, Vivienne Westwood was less than enthused. In 1971 her and Malcom McLaren opened a boutique: Let It Rock.
The following year they rebranded and changed the name to “Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die” and offered clothing with lots of leather, biker clothing and zips.
ROOM TWO: PUNK IS NOT DEAD
After being prosecuted by the 1959 Obscene Publications Act for their provocative t shirts, the store underwent another rebrand and was called “Sex”.
The birth of punk rock in pop culture resulted from a band that Malcom managed, Sex Pistols’, and their sexual fetishism in their fashion.
ROOM THREE: ROYAL ROCOCO
Vivienne adopted a more upper-class, rococo inspired style in the 1980s and incorporated 18th century corsets and historical silhouettes in her designs.
Sparked with influence by a young girl she saw on the tube wearing tweed, her 1987/1988 collection featured Harris Tweed and faux fur capelets.
Activist
After years of admiration, Queen Elizabeth II recognized Westwood by appointing her the Dame of the British Empire in 2006 for her contributions to British fashion and pushing boundaries.
Westwood was also a dedicated activist and fought for environmental and human rights.
