Serving looks during a heatwave can be difficult. That’s why, for SS27 , Vivienne Westwood creative director Andreas Kronthaler set out to question what dressing could look like amid rising temperatures and climate change (a topic we recently explored ourselves through this feature on fashion vs extreme heat) .
“What will clothes become?” the designer asked in the show notes, following in the footsteps of his late wife, who was committed to protesting climate change both on and off the runway. Kronthaler dreamed up the collection earlier this year, during one of Paris’s hottest summers on record: “It was a stifling summer, I lived in a nightshirt with nothing underneath.
Pastels, gingham, nightshirts in silk and cotton, coat dresses, light tulle corsetry.”
On the runway, models showed off looks we’re sure to see when the next heatwave comes around – from shiny denim sets torn apart for airflow to slinky wrap dresses, slipped over bikinis and tied loosely over the hips. Elsewhere, striped joggers were paired only with lace-up boots, shirting was left open and tucked inside matching speedos, and a new “Open to All” graphic tee was cut at the hem – a collaboration created to raise money for suicide prevention charity Body and Soul , which this season’s collection was named after.
However, while the offering might have shown more skin than usual, that’s not to say it was stripped back. Like most Westwood collections as of late, fabrics came in a variety of clashing patterns and accessories got a little chaotic. Think: colourful penis charms safety-pinned to knitwear, yellow daisy chain scarves, mismatched “I heart Paris” earrings, and coiled choker necklaces.
Meanwhile, Natasha Lyonne – who’s been appearing at front rows for a while now – made her runway debut during the show in an embroidered, 17th-century-inspired leopard-print “cheat” jacket, clashing leopard-print mini skirt and a pair of knee-high gladiator heels covered in gold sequins. Topping off her look, Kronthaler patched a small robin as an homage to Westwood.
“Vivienne comes to me as a robin, which I use as an icon throughout the collection,” he explained. “It is through [her] that I most understood how to honour life.”
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