It’s been less than two years since Dame Vivienne Westwood died and the chasm she left in the industry that she sought to change for the better is felt as keenly as ever. To put it plainly, there is no one who does what Westwood – an anarchic force who created fashion “to destroy the word conformity” – did. Nor dresses the way she decked herself out in radical, punkish tailoring.
Today: a ray of light for Westwood acolytes mourning the provocateur’s unapologetically bold personal image and everything she stood for. More than 200 items from Vivienne’s wardrobe, as selected by her partner in life and work Andreas Kronthaler, will go on sale at Christie’s via two auctions: a live sale in London on 25 June, and an online equivalent from 14 to 28 June. Even better? Those who perhaps don’t have the pocket money required to purchase pieces from Westwood’s Witches (autumn/winter 1983), Dressed to Scale (autumn/winter 1998) or Propaganda (autumn/winter 2005) collections will be available to view the pieces at a free public exhibition, entitled Vivienne Westwood: The Personal Collection, at Christie’s, London, from 14 to 24 June. Expect even the street style outside to be a brilliant homage to the straight-talking creative and campaigner.
“Vivienne was our heroine,” says Kronthaler, who has decreed that the proceeds of all fashion, jewellery and accessory sales will go to The Vivienne Foundation, Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières and a Greenpeace project called The Big Picture – Vivienne’s Playing Cards. “This will be a unique opportunity for audiences to encounter both the public and the private world of the great Dame Vivienne Westwood and to raise funds for the causes in which she so ardently believed,” adds head of the sale Adrian Hume-Sayer. Her mission, as Kronthaler notes now, “to be different and to explode the system” continues in earnest – a true testament to Westwood’s unwavering commitment, which continues to inspire so many.
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