PARIS FASHION WEEK: The Walk Through at Vivienne Westwood
'DO IT YOURSELF' proclaimed Vivienne Westwood's invite and show programme, and while many fashion declarations of 'make do and mend' ring hollow, Westwood's position as punk provocateur gives her more kudos than any other. In the seventies, she declared that she loved the ideas of kids ripping off her SEX and Seditionaries designs, and this season she provided us with her own crib notes on how to get her look,advocating 'necklaces out of safety pins', 'kerchiefs worn as knickers' and 'shawls, blankets, tablecloths, curtains and towels' as somewhat unconventional evening attire. This heady melange all added up to classic Westwood, with straps and flaps dangling around the body, draped cloth slit and wrapped to expose and even create new erogenous zones and plenty of grandiose oh-my-god-I'll-never-find-my-legs-again ballgowns crafted from muchos metres of striped and moired silk. There were hints of Westwood past - touch of 'Witches' in the peak-shouldered tailoring and Keith Haring-esque hieroglyphs decorating evening gowns. And lest anyone forget who did the whole 'Cave Girl' thing first in her 1982 'Savages' and 'Buffalo' moment, we had roughly-hewn leopard-print capes flung like animal carcasses over the models' shoulders. The slogan tees were perhaps a touch House of Holland for a grande like Dame Vivienne, but she's always promoted wearing your brain on your sleeve and scrawling your cultural affiliations across your chest. Essentially, it was classic, irrepressible Westwood; Tracey Emin whooping it up in the front row on Westwood's lap of honour proved it delivered just that.
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