Westwood Vivienne - Vivienne Westwood: an unfashionable life

When I concluded the first edition of this book in March 1998 I felt that it was too soon to establish Vivienne Westwoods place in fashion history. I am happy to see that the Victoria and Albert Museum in London now believes that her work deserves a major retrospective. The curators have supplemented their archives with the purchase of three hundred early Westwood items from Michael and the late Gerlinde Costiffs collection. They were two of Viviennes most avid early customers, and wore the clothes everywhere: to work, to the carnival in Brazil every year; Even in places like the Sudan or Mali or Burkino Faso, people would point and say, Worlds End! People always recognised Viviennes things, Michael Costiff recalls.

The Costiff collection has been acquired by the V&A for 100,000, 42,500 of which was raised by a grant from the National Art Collections Fund. On 1 April 2004 (a date that will amuse Vivienne) it will open a major retrospective of Viviennes lifes work. It is pleasing to see her work properly curated and exhibited, especially by a museum whose knowledgeable and brave Director of Textiles and Costume in the seventies and eighties, Valerie Mendes, had the foresight to invest the departments meagre funds in the Pirates collection. Mendes early commitment to Westwood, and this biography, have contributed to the latters recognition as an important, original and above all worldwide influence on modern fashion.

Coincidentally, as the cycle of fashion turns Viviennes oeuvre sits happily with the times once again. In a reaction to the last five years of ubiquitous sportswear, relieved only by skimpy slip dresses, her fashion vocabulary has resonance now. Whether its the playful layers of the Buffalo look from her early years or the cut, fit, and dress-up idiom of her later collections, her clothes have found a new generation of fans. The Vivienne Westwood revival went mainstream three years ago when Kate Moss turned up at a party wearing original Pirate boots. Leading auction houses and specialist stores, such as Rellick in West London, have enjoyed a busy trade in her vintage clothes and accessories. Indeed, one whole sale at Sothebys was devoted to the Vivienne Westwood collection of Lady Romilly McAlpine. Vivienne Westwood Ltd has launched the Anglomania label to exploit her back catalogue. The company also keeps in its archives over ten thousand pieces of clothing stretching over twenty-five years so that clients can have pieces from the past copied and made to measure. It is a popular service.

Celebrities from a new generation have been drawn to Viviennes clothes, leading yet more fans in their footsteps. Heather Graham, Christina Applegate, Jerry Hall and Elizabeth Jagger, Cameron Diaz, Drea de Matteo, Sarah Jessica Parker, RnB star LilKim Joy Bryant, Kate Winslet and Jennifer Connolly all favour her clothes, particularly for big events such as the Oscar ceremonies. The publicity-conscious Nigella Lawson wore a corseted black dress to show off her figure at the opening of the Saatchi Gallery in London in the spring of 2003 and while on a promotional tour of America, most notably on the Jay Leno Tonight talk show. Similarly Rosie Millard, the BBCs Art Correspondent, dramatically boosted her profile when she wore a Vivienne dress with a plunging neckline for the Oscars three years ago. Its a trick that worked, and she has repeated it since. Vivienne Westwood clothes produce results.

Viviennes influence continues to filter down from high fashion to the High Street too. Once again, and twenty years on, Top Shop are reinterpreting the frills and buckles of her Buffalo look. And following in Brinton Carpets brave and groundbreaking wake, Swatch watches, Waterford/Wedgwood tableware and Wolford hosiery have recently marketed Vivienne Westwood designs exclusive to them. Each has been a lucrative and brand-promoting partnership.