Vivienne Westwood’s ability to transmute the mood of the times into fashion collections is at once philosophically humanistic and outrageously artistic. Her design ethos echoes the environment in which she finds herself, and the environment of today is rife with climate upheaval. For that reason, her latest collection is dubbed ‘Climate Revolution’. In it, Westwood takes the rawest elements of the earth’s natural resources and reupholsters them in couture finery. The unfinished seams, slashed cutouts, and giant bug brooches are meant to interpret trees in a fashion setting, but Westwood’s imagination turns this concept into something on a higher plane.

Teeny metallic one-piece jumpsuits, voluminous crepe-and-satin ball gowns, bust-boosting sleek corsets, ochre peasant dresses, tapestry prints, and punchy jackets with giant fold-over shoulders populated the Westwood runway. Her palette was all over the place, from brilliant jewel tones to washed-out neutrals. It was unmistakably glamorous. To glamourize nature in need of mend, however, is not to fetishize it. Westwood is nothing if not a thinking designer, and her up-cycling attitude draws attention to an arena of life on Planet Earth not often touched upon by the industry – not at this level, anyway. Blending the message with a touch of French Revolution dereliction throws the message into even sharper relief. If something’s not done, heads will roll, she seems to suggest.

written by GRACE GORDON|photos: courtesy of GoRUNWAY