Vivienne Westwood’s show opened with a video pleaing with the government for the release of Julian Assange. “He needs some sun!” implored Westwood. Maybe that notion influenced this collection – designed by Andreas Kronthaler but with politics care of Dame Viv – because there was plenty of bare flesh on show, and sunbleached hues in the clothes. The idea this season was unisex, something dozens of others are cottoning into right now but which Westwood pioneered way back in the eighties, with baggy one-shape-fits-all clothes ruched and draped and tucked around male and female bodies alike. This season the boys got the biggest load of crossover – lots of dresses, a few skirts, a brocade gown with draped open front and billowing sleeves like something out of a Renaissance portrait hanging in a stuccoed embassy. Maybe that was the Assange influence? He and his cat were featured on the invite. Westwood commented that the cat alone has 15,000 followers on Twitter.
Photographs by Jason Lloyd-Evans
