Only two weeks ago in London, Dame Vivienne Westwood was campaigning for an independent Scotland at her Red Label show. You can’t win them all, and as she and Andreas Kronthaler arrived in Paris for their Gold Label show at the Westin Vendome there was already a much bigger issue on their minds: ecocide. “Our vision,” a statement read. “A healthy and sustainable planet where we, future generations, and all living beings, live in harmony in nature.” It was, of course, a theme reflected in the collection, which was suitably based on the children of the world through the ages.
It made for a historically charged affair, right up this season’s nostalgic alley, with more than a few nods to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (the embroidery was amazing), and to periods much older than that, if you can call the Book of Genesis a period. Adam and Eve’s fig leaves appeared on underwear – also on a male model – allowing Dame Vivienne and Kronthaler’s collection to come full circle with their cause: restoring the planet to its original glory. “One law to change it all,” they wrote, Tolkien style, urging guests to sign the petition at endecocide.org.
Credits
Text Anders Christian Madsen
Photography Mitchell Sams