Vivienne Westwood S/S 2018
Scene setting: The scene of this season’s men’s shows has had an athletic twist, Martine Rose using colourful rock climbing walls as the backdrop to her catwalk show, and Kent & Curwen assembling its models together as if they were sitting for a sporting team photograph. For its S/S 2018 show, Vivienne Westwood chose the Seymour Leisure Centre as its location, an apt venue considering the energy with which Westwood’s and her husband and designer partner Andreas Kronthaler's band of models danced, cartwheeled and sashayed down the catwalk.
Mood board: The collection was an energetic celebration of all things Westwood – historic silhouettes, tailoring, tartans and majestic crown headwear. A male model strode the catwalk in a shiny black floor-length dress with a deeply exposing V-neck, while a female model turned ballet dancer performed in point shoes and a white lace dress, cut using Westwood’s famed body-cinching precision. Vivienne Westwood has always been a strong supporter of environmentalism, a stance even more potent since Donald Trump’s decision earlier this month to pull America from the Paris agreement. Her position against climate change (one often explored readily in her collections) came in water bottles and detritus attached the legs of models, prints featuring doodles of the word ‘economy’ and vast cash sums, and a sweater stamped with a muddied footprint.
Best in show: Vivienne Westwood voiced her support for Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, who emerged seemingly victorious from last week’s General Election in the UK, despite not winning. Westwood, too, appeared victorious, appearing on the cawalk in a wildly Instagrammed moment, on the shoulders of a made model, clad in an ace of spade print vest, white doodled leggings, platforms and a wonderfully triumphant expression.
Vivienne Westwood S/S 2018. Photography: Jason Lloyd Evans
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Curvilinear futurism meets subtropical beaches at Not A Hotel’s ZHA-designed Okinawa retreatZaha Hadid Architects has revealed the design for the first property in Not A Hotel’s futuristic new Vertex collection, coming soon to southern Japan
-
Gorden Wagener leaves the helm of Mercedes-Benz design after 28 years with the companyThe German designer is stepping down from the role of chief design officer at Mercedes-Benz. We look back at his influence and impact on the world of automotive and luxury design
-
These Christmas cards sent by 20th-century architects tell their own storiesHandcrafted holiday greetings reveal the personal side of architecture and design legends such as Charles and Ray Eames, Frank Lloyd Wright and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
-
‘Architect of glamour’ Antony Price makes a high-voltage return to the runway with 16ArlingtonFeaturing a runway debut from Lily Allen, the show saw legendary designer Antony Price – best known for outfitting Roxy Music in the 1980s – unite with 16Arlington’s Marco Capaldo on the sensual after-dark collection
-
‘Dirty Looks’ at the Barbican explores how fashion designers have found beauty in dirt and decayFrom garments buried in River Thames mud to those torn, creased and stained, ‘Dirty Looks’ is a testament to how ‘creativity and new artistic practices can come out of decay’, its curators tell Dal Chodha
-
Tyler Mitchell’s London show explores the figure of the Black Dandy, ‘imagining what else masculinity could look like’Originally part of a visual essay to accompany the Met’s ‘Superfine’ 2025 Costume Institute exhibition, ‘Portrait of the Modern Dandy’ goes on display at Gagosian Burlington Arcade in London this week
-
Inside Louis Vuitton’s Murakami London pop-up, a colourful cartoon wonderland with one-of-a-kind caféWallpaper* takes a tour of the Louis Vuitton x Murakami pop-up in London’s Soho, which celebrates the launch of a new ‘re-edition’ accessories collection spanning the greatest hits from the Japanese artist’s long-running collaboration with the house
-
Get to know Issey Miyake’s innovative A-POC ABLE line as it arrives in the UKAs A-POC ABLE Issey Miyake launches in London this week, designer Yoshiyuki Miyamae gives Wallpaper* the lowdown on the experimental Issey Miyake offshoot
-
Margaret Howell London Fashion Week Women's S/S 2019 -
London Fashion Week S/S 2023: Ahluwalia to Martine RoseThough slimmed-down, London Fashion Week nonetheless provided the moments of creative expression the city is known for – from Ahluwalia’s ode to Africa to Martine Rose’s much-anticipated runway return
-
Discover these fashion brands at London Craft WeekDuring London Craft Week, fashion brands including Smythson, Bally and Serapian are hosting events across the capital