How British Fashion Grew Up

London Fashion Week opened yesterday to Autumn/Winter shows by Paul Costelloe, Maria Grachvogel, Aminaka Wilmont, and Bora Aksu.

Vivienne Westwood’s hotly anticipated Red Label catwalk show will take place tomorrow, alongside collections by Matthew Williamson and Antonio Beradi. Westwood remains a long-standing queen of British Fashion design; an ex-punk and political activist prone to inappropriate outbursts like her infamous “who is Emma Watson?” question at the Vogue Style Awards, she is a fixture of British fashion.

The red-haired style icon symbolises a radical experimentalism which distinguishes her from the cultural conservatism embodied by other fashion designers. Her clothing suggests personal freedom, an anti-authoritarianism – albeit in a more subdued form than her earlier punk-inspired designs which incorporated tartan patterns, safety pins, and a variety of chains and bondage gear. Her Red Label Spring/Summer 2011 catwalk show was playful, wearable and feminine; fitted suits in pastel colours with bold pastel stripes, and subtle print dresses. Cheerful, chic,  clothing which is flattering and somehow quite mature.

When Fashion Grew Up…

The evolution of Vivienne Westwood’s designs reflects a movement away from teenage angst to a fairytale daydream of a better life. Perhaps this is a story a lot of us can relate to on a personal level. I can remember only too well my teenage penchant for black and royal blue kohl, and Summer dresses with army boots, a staple of my previous life as a punk. Nowadays, I’m a little less stylistically audacious in my adherence to the belief  that elegance and classic style trumps fuss and sparkle any day. Westwood, apparently, feels the same way.

After 30 years of living in a council flat in Clapham, Westwood finally moved into an 18th century Queen Ann style house, which had once been owned by the mother of Captain Cook. Her movement away from the unglamorous reality of youth to the comfort afforded by maturity, is an optimism we could all use as Britain faces the painful potential reality of a ‘double dip’ recession. In short, what Britain needs now is the fantasy of success, not the teenage angst.