Photo: Via Invision / Joel Ryan
Incendiary British designer Vivienne Westwood is no stranger to making pointed comments about the fashion industry, proving her salt at yesterday's Red Label show in London. At a press conference after her show, she urged everyone to "cut back" on clothes.
"Buy less. Choose well. Make it last. Quality, not quantity. Everybody's buying far too many clothes," she told the Telegraph.
As always, Westwood's eponymous Spring 2014 collection held a polemic focus, with model Lily Cole kicking things off with an intrepretative dance, before dramatically "dying." And, for sheer volatile impact, Westwood's latest eccentric designs — and makeup — were up there with Thom Browne's this season, as we've noted. Some of the looks proudly bore Westwood's politics on their sleeve, such as the "Climate Revolution" tops (see top photo, left) emphasizing the designer's ecological crusades. As she's said many times, fashion is just an influential platform upon which to promote her views.
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The idea of "wanting less" isn't a virtue the fashion industry traditionally promotes, but what Westwood is saying is actually, to want better. In other words, quality over quantity.
"It doesn't mean therefore you have to just buy anything cheap. Instead of buying six things, buy one thing that you really like. Don't keep buying just for the sake of it," she said, before adding: "I just think people should invest in the world. Don't invest in fashion, but invest in the world."
Anyone want to argue with that?