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Vivienne Westwood
Vivienne Westwood is a global icon whose career has successfully spanned three decades from the early days of punk to the establishment of her own fashion house. Published to accompany the hugely popular Vivienne Westwood exhibition at the V&A, this book is the first in-depth Vivienne Westwood retrospective. It studies her work as a groundbreaking fashion designer and celebrates her visual impact and iconic profile world-wide.
224 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2005
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About the author
Claire Wilcox
37 books27 followersFrom Wikipedia: Claire Wilcox (born 1954)[1] is senior curator of fashion at the Victoria and Albert Museum.[2] She received an honorary doctorate in art and design from Middlesex University in July 2017.[3] She sits on the editorial board of the journal Fashion Theory.[4] She is professor of fashion curation at the London College of Fashion. She won the 2021 PEN/Ackerley Prize for Patch Work.[5]
(Not to be confused with American economist https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
(Not to be confused with American economist https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 16, 2011
If you are a fan of Vivienne Westwood then this book will really be a prized possession. It documents her entire career from punk to avant garde couture. Her background as a teacher is clearly evident in the very academic and scholarly approach she takes to fashion and designing. All her designs are thoroughly researched and so detail-focussed. I love the fact that she is not afraid to share her techniques with the world. Because honestly most designers are decades behind her in terms of thought-process and originality. Her huge Japanese fan base is a testament to her originality and trend setting fashions. I also particularly love the fact that the photography doesn't only cover fashion shows or typical lookbook pictures. We also get a glimpse into her creative process. I am about to make an international move and of all my books I have allowed myself only 3 as hand luggage. This is one of them. The other two... Paul Smith's book and a book on fashion illustration.
September 23, 2012
Vivienne Westwood will always be the designer that helped create the iconic Sex Pistols image. Clothes inspired by bondage with chains, zips and straps. Torn shirts emblazoned with the union jack or a defaced portrait of Queen Elizabeth with a safety pin through her nose. Rich red plaid and buckles aplenty. She was the queen of punk chic in her early days at SEX and Seditionaries, while today she is the queen of Brit fashion eccentricity.
This book gives a general overview of her early collections, and a much more detailed presentation of her late 90's and 21st century collections. Strongly founded in vintage clothing, her fashion will always be eclectic and cutting edge. With her trademarks of dirty, sleazy, naughty sex, punk rock and V&A influence, there will never be another like her.
This book gives a general overview of her early collections, and a much more detailed presentation of her late 90's and 21st century collections. Strongly founded in vintage clothing, her fashion will always be eclectic and cutting edge. With her trademarks of dirty, sleazy, naughty sex, punk rock and V&A influence, there will never be another like her.
December 30, 2022
VIV
All of the newspapers have led with the death of the Brazilian footballer (a true icon) instead of the equally iconic Brit that died yesterday instead, which is a shame.
I used to live around the corner from Vivienne Westwood. She lived on that little strip between the Wandsworth Bridge Road and Clapham Common, known as the Old Town. She lived very modestly in a small terraced house, smaller than the one I grew up in. Not some massive gilded mansion or anything. I used to see her all the time on my way to the tube station and often in the corner shop on that road, in her dressing gown and slippers buying cigarettes and a pint of milk.
I worked in a central London bookshop at the time, this was like 2004/5 and we got in these coffee table books of her work and career output. Gowns and shoes and the like. Then a lightbulb went off. Not long after that, I saw her again and just put it to her. Fully expecting her to say No.
I asked her if she could come in and do a talk and shift some copies etc. I could get one of the many female historians that owed me a favour to chat with. She wasn’t keen, so I offered for her to come and just do a straight up signing at a table. Which she agreed to.
This was before the days of Waterstones were ALL ABOUT signing events and the Head Office were actively hostile about me doing such things off my own back. God, they hated me. They also refused to send me anything to help me promote the event, when I told them who I had bagged. Fortunately, Viv got onto her publisher, who sent me posters and flyers instead. Which really pissed Waterstones off. Viv thought it was hilarious.
The day went down really well and we shifted like 60-70 copies (£30 a pop) and she signed a bunch more. We were the only branch in the country with signed copies and a couple of other shops sent us begging emails when they heard what we did. I used them as collateral when I needed favours in the future.
Viv hung around for a bit after. I made her a ginger tea in the staff room and we talked about SEX (the shop) and the Pistols. My manager came in for her shift, looked at the scene and just shook her head and rolled her eyes. About a week later, she got an email enquiring we had posted such a big sales figure for that day, worried that we were engaging in money laundering or something. She had to explain to/remind Head Office what we were doing and it was a success, despite their refusal for help. Not long after that and doing more events, they started sending branch managers to see how we did the table signings and the evening talks, because we were posting these huge numbers.
But it all started with Viv really. A few days after her signing, she sent me this tie to the shop. The card read, ‘From one punk to another, keep up the good work. Many Thanks, Viv’
I’ve only worn it a couple of times over the years, as I’m not sure I can pull that sort of thing off. But it’s certainly a conversation starter. God bless her. RIP.
All of the newspapers have led with the death of the Brazilian footballer (a true icon) instead of the equally iconic Brit that died yesterday instead, which is a shame.
I used to live around the corner from Vivienne Westwood. She lived on that little strip between the Wandsworth Bridge Road and Clapham Common, known as the Old Town. She lived very modestly in a small terraced house, smaller than the one I grew up in. Not some massive gilded mansion or anything. I used to see her all the time on my way to the tube station and often in the corner shop on that road, in her dressing gown and slippers buying cigarettes and a pint of milk.
I worked in a central London bookshop at the time, this was like 2004/5 and we got in these coffee table books of her work and career output. Gowns and shoes and the like. Then a lightbulb went off. Not long after that, I saw her again and just put it to her. Fully expecting her to say No.
I asked her if she could come in and do a talk and shift some copies etc. I could get one of the many female historians that owed me a favour to chat with. She wasn’t keen, so I offered for her to come and just do a straight up signing at a table. Which she agreed to.
This was before the days of Waterstones were ALL ABOUT signing events and the Head Office were actively hostile about me doing such things off my own back. God, they hated me. They also refused to send me anything to help me promote the event, when I told them who I had bagged. Fortunately, Viv got onto her publisher, who sent me posters and flyers instead. Which really pissed Waterstones off. Viv thought it was hilarious.
The day went down really well and we shifted like 60-70 copies (£30 a pop) and she signed a bunch more. We were the only branch in the country with signed copies and a couple of other shops sent us begging emails when they heard what we did. I used them as collateral when I needed favours in the future.
Viv hung around for a bit after. I made her a ginger tea in the staff room and we talked about SEX (the shop) and the Pistols. My manager came in for her shift, looked at the scene and just shook her head and rolled her eyes. About a week later, she got an email enquiring we had posted such a big sales figure for that day, worried that we were engaging in money laundering or something. She had to explain to/remind Head Office what we were doing and it was a success, despite their refusal for help. Not long after that and doing more events, they started sending branch managers to see how we did the table signings and the evening talks, because we were posting these huge numbers.
But it all started with Viv really. A few days after her signing, she sent me this tie to the shop. The card read, ‘From one punk to another, keep up the good work. Many Thanks, Viv’
I’ve only worn it a couple of times over the years, as I’m not sure I can pull that sort of thing off. But it’s certainly a conversation starter. God bless her. RIP.
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May 14, 2023pictures ! ^_^
September 26, 2007
I purchased this book when I was at the exhibition in San Francisco. So, since I fell in love with getting to see her creations up close and personal I am probably a little biased in my judgement of this book. I love Vivienne Westwood and that is that.
January 11, 2015
Reading her biography at the same time made this feel lacking - an unfair comparison considering what this is - a book full of beautiful images spanning Vivienne Westwood's career up until the point of publication.
October 8, 2008
one of the best fashion biographies ever, with amazing photos
December 11, 2010
Some images are really too small to show Westwood's designs, but those designs are fabulous.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews