Vivienne Westwood’s signature pretty-rebel aesthetic blossomed in the 1980s — rooted in London’s influential music scene — and it has been consistent in her collections ever since. A small exhibit at the Museum at FIT, the Fashion Institute of Technology, shows her early pieces and how they are the foundation of things to come.
Westwood, a fashion fixture for more than 30 years, is experiencing a surge of interest right now, with both Anne Hathaway and Helen Mirren wearing her designs at the Oscars.
The exhibit, curated by graduate students, highlights looks from the Pirate collection (1981), the Time Machine (1988), and her 1985 “mini-crini” mash-ups, which mixed the hoop skirt in crinoline with modern minis.
Her famous Rocking Horse platform-heel shoes are there, too.
The designer’s most enduring style, though, is crafting lingerie touches, especially corsetry, into ready-to-wear pieces.
Westwood also is a master at bringing key silhouettes of the past into the present, says Audrey Chaney, one of the curators. She also pays homage to her native Britain in each collection, she notes, especially in her use of tartan plaid and tweed.
But fellow curator Emma Kadar-Penner says she’d like to find a reason to wear the 1988 Statue of Liberty-inspired party dress, made of a lame corset and tulle skirt. “It’s modern, and you could wear it to any party now.”
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