Vivienne Westwood Re-Issues Her Eighties Corsets

Vintage Vivienne Westwood fans rejoice! This month the London designer is bringing back a limited edition re-run of corsets that first appeared in her A/W 87 Harris Tweed collection. Available in three shades - ivory, red and black - Westwood’s classic corset is being reissued for a limited time only in stores in London, New York, Paris, Milan and Los Angeles. You might not want to cancel your eBay alerts just yet - the corsets are retailing at £1,045.

The British fashion designer, who in the 1970s began using the corset as part of her punk aesthetic, reinterpreted the item of clothing through a lens of female empowerment, rather than binding oppression. Designers from Jean Paul Gaultier to John Galliano have experimented with the corset or corset-like tailoring, however, Westwood's corsets are still a much sought-after vintage find.

Should you want to look for recent takes on corsetry, S/S 20 was rich with homages to and reinterpretations of the corset. Charlotte Knowles, Sinéad O'Dwyer, Dilara Findikoglu and Ashley Williams made the garment a centrepiece in their collections.