Vivienne Westwood is back on YOOXYGEN with her acclaimed Ethical Fashion Africa Project and a whole new set of bags and accessories—including a series of exclusive styles. To celebrate the coming together of fashion and ethics, Vivienne Westwood and yoox.com chose the upcoming edition of Pitti Immagine in Florence for a very special launch.
Fashion notoriously loves a good cause, but Vivienne Westwood actually delivers on the premise. The famed designer—Dame Vivienne to you—has always followed her own rules. Here, once again, she is setting the agenda with an innovative and bold initiative that goes beyond the realm of fashion and luxury.
The idea is disarmingly simple, and yet something of a first: Westwood travelled to Nairobi, Kenya, not simply for a week and a photo op, but to teach a craft. Under Westwood’s tutelage, African women have learned how to use locally-sourced, recycled materials to produce fashionable bags and accessories. The result is a series of attention-getting pieces that will endure in every sense; they are the fruition of work, not charity, the culmination of the mastery of new and important skills—skills that are sure to sustain these women both now and in the future.
The Ethical Fashion Africa Project has been backed by the International Trade Center, a joint effort of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization. On June 15th, Westwood’s initiative will be celebrated by yet another international audience, courtesy of a launch party hosted by yoox.com. Against the enchanting backdrop of Florence, Italy, glamorous guests will experience Westwood’s Kenyan project up close and personal via a series of short films shot by the legendary photographer Juergen Teller.
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ABOUT VIVIENNE WESTWOOD
Vivienne Westwood began designing in 1971 along with her partner Malcolm McLaren when London was at the forefront of cultural trends. The showcase for their ideas and designs was the shop at 430 Kings Road, London. With her changing ideas of fashion came the change of not only the name of the shop but the entire decor as well. However, it was in 1976 which saw Westwood and McLaren redefine a street culture of their own with punk and “Seditionaries”. This was followed in 1981 by “World’s End” which remains the shop’s name to this day.
By the end of the seventies Vivienne Westwood was already considered a symbol of the British avant-garde and for Autumn/Winter 1981 she showed her first catwalk presentation at Olympia in London. It was her Pirate collection which launched the New Romantic movement. In October 1982, Westwood began to show in Paris, the first British designer to do so since Mary Quant. She opened a second shop in London called “Nostalgia of Mud” which closed at the end of 1984 and this coincided with the end of Westwood and McLaren’s collaboration.
1984 was an extremely significant year Vivienne Westwood. She was invited to show her collection in Tokyo with Hanae Mori, Calvin Klein, Claude Montana, and Gianfranco Ferre at “the Best of Five”.
1986 was the year which marked a radical change of direction for her. Street style and youth culture ceased to play a major part of her work and instead, Westwood looked to traditional Savile Row tailoring techniques, British fabrics and 17th and 18th century art for inspiration. The orb logo which was first used around this time perfectly symbolised taking tradition into the future.
In 1989 Mr. John Fairchild, President of Fairchild publications and Editor of the fashion trade bible Women’s Wear Daily, listed Westwood, in his book “chic savages”, as one of the six most influential designers in the world. It was in the same year that she met Andreas Kronthaler, who would later become her husband and long-time collaborator as well as Creative Director of Vivienne Westwood. In 1990 Westwood was awarded the prestigious title of British designer of the year and for the second year running Westwood was awarded British Designer of the year in 1991. In 1992, Westwood was awarded the Order of the British Empire.
1993 brought the division of her womenswear label in to two different lines – “Gold Label”, the couture range shown in Paris, and “Red Label” the pret-â-porter line. “Man” her independent menswear line made its debut to international acclaim in 1996 during Collezioni Uomo in Milan. In 1998 Westwood launched a new line “Anglomania” in order to complete the Westwood universe and to cater to a younger and more casual market. In the same year Vivienne Westwood launched her first fragrance “Boudoir”.
2004 saw the V&A host a Vivienne Westwood retrospective exhibition to celebrate her 34 years in fashion – the largest exhibition ever devoted to a living British fashion designer. The exhibition toured the world for over 4 years and was shown in over ten cities worldwide including London, Milan, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Canberra and San Francisco. In 2006, her contribution to British Fashion was officially recognised when she was appointed Dame of the British Empire by her majesty the Queen Elizabeth the Second.
In 2008 Vivienne Westwood showed her Red Label in London after almost a decade of absence from London Fashion Week and called on other British brands that now only show abroad to follow her example. Vivienne Westwood today continues to show in Paris, Milan and London. She uses the medium of her shows to talk about culture and politics, more specifically about the urgent need to act against climate change. While still completely independent, her business continues to grow with boutiques in China and Los Angeles set to open next year.
Vivienne Westwood is now recognized as a global brand and Westwood herself as one of the most influential fashion designers in the world today.
