Vivienne Westwood Decries State Of British Fashion

Dame Vivienne Westwood has spoken out against the state of British Fashion today, arguing that we are the worst dressed in history

Speaking amid the festivities of London Fashion Week, Westwood exclaimed that ‘People have never looked so ugly’. ‘In history people dressed much better than we do’: ‘If you saw Queen Elizabeth it would be amazing, she came from another planet. She was so attractive in what she was wearing,’ she added.

The iconic designer puts our fallen state down to two factors; conformism (‘We are so conformist, nobody is thinking’) and the throw-away value of so much that we buy (‘I’m talking about all this disposable crap’). ‘I’m a fashion designer and people think ‘what do I know?’’ … [but] I’m saying buy less, choose well, make it last.’ So there we have it: the secret of looking fabulous Westwood-style.

Westwood’s offering at London Fashion Week was then, unsurprisingly, distinctly nostalgic in flavour, adopting decidedly retro tropes such as Jermyn Street stripes, Savile Row tailoring, tartan and duchesse satin to headscarves.

Fashion Week continues today with shows from Burberry and Christopher Kane and a presentation from McQ – the affordable range from the Sarah Burton-led Alexander McQueen fashion house, set to be released in a London flagship store in a few months. ‘There is great excitement about (McQ) because of Sarah Burton’s success dressing Katherine Middleton for the royal wedding last year’, explained Caroline Rush, CEO of the British Fashion Council, organisers of LFW. ‘There is fantastic talent as always, and the international audience is looking very strong’ she added.

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