VIVIENNE WESTWOOD UNVEILS ITS SS24 COLLECTION

For some time, we wanted to photograph in Shakespeare’s Globe and we are very happy to have
made it work this season. Around COP26, Vivienne performed her speech for Letters to the Earth
There – is a global campaign in response to the planetary crisis.

The theatre is a very important, free space that needs to be protected because this is where ideas
can and should be represented uncensored. There is something very playful about the pictures
and it is shown through the characters photographed. It is always with Shakespeare and acting in
mind. Today, there is a crossover of genders, which was very common in Shakespeare’s time.
Everybody is who they want to be.

The collection shows the impact of time on tapestry fabrics, which are cut and frayed, knitwear and
poplin that is daubed with pigment, classical prints, and distressed leather. Pablo Picasso’s designs for the 1920 ballet Le Tricorne inspire cartoon spots and zig-zag stripes. Denim, tailoring, knitwear, and accessories are deliberately washed and worn. Hollywood 1920s costume designs and the confidence of 1980s power dressing are combined with
a modern approach to sportswear. Business shirts are blown-up, exaggerated, and twisted, worn
with acid green madras tartan, which drips down bags.

A painterly mood is seen in sky blue jacquards in the Kiss of Hercules and Omphale, 1732
(Francois Boucher, 1703–70) and folkloric painted flowers.
Returning to the central tenet of Sonnet 18: everlasting love, a memory that lives on and inspires
the future.