TAILORED HISTORY

A new renaissance emerges with Vivienne Westwood's latest collection. Tradition is as blurred as ever, furthering Westwood's historical sense of play and subversiveness. The result is a collection of neoclassical garments that sees cherubs lay across corset tops, and tartan adorn sculpted jackets, past references via a modern lens.

Demonstrating a masterclass in taking the past into the future, this Rococo revival could find no better home than Vivienne Westwood. By merging Westwood's historical rebelliousness with that of the late Baroque movement, a refined sense of audaciousness comes through its dramatic tailoring, framed in a contemporary way.

The details here come together, with square necklines, peplum sleeves, and asymmetric hems collating historically informed design. Such features are highlighted amongst the Drunken Blazer, Plaid cropped set, and Cut Off One Button ensemble, selects that demonstrate how a history of design can contextualise the present.

Heightened femininity permeates the pieces through the presence of padded shoulders, expanding the perspective of the drama of Rococo to include a sense of outfitted protection. This subversion sits across the whole collection, whilst a referential lavishness remains, steeped in its own sense of history, made for the spectacle of the now.