In light of Vivienne Westwood’s passing, we revisit our HEROINE 12 story featuring supermodel Jourdan Dunn wearing the designer’s SS20 collection accompanied by powerful quotes by Westwood herself.

From directly opposing the establishment with safety pin-punctured imagery in her Seditionaries days to flirting with tradition by repurposing minute details of historical design tropes, Vivienne Westwood’s collections are a direct conversation with the body.
Where many designers impose a silhouette, Westwood literally slices down the seams of traditional feminine design codes.

This ability to reshape the agenda runs deep through the archives: tired of conventional ideas of femininity, Westwood has emphasised the male gaze to absurd proportions with her iconic ‘bum cushion’ bustles, reimagined the corset as empowering rather than oppressive and, for SS85, introduced the Mini-Crini, subverting the restrictive attitude behind Victorian crinoline into a garment of sexuality and body positivity.

For SS20 Westwood honed in on Pinocchio – Carlo Collodi’s lying puppet – as vivid, abstract shapes were given life. Seemingly pulled in all directions by invisible strings, fractured pieces of fabric are collaged and manipulated to cocoon bodies and accentuate hips and busts. As conversations around the female body continue to morph, Westwood remains a vital, unwavering voice.

“POPE RECOMMENDS BIRTH CONTROL”

“KNOWLEDGE GIVES US OUR PAST, PRESENT + OUR FUTURE”

“IT IS THROUGH CULTURE THAT WE LINK TOGETHER”

hair CHARLOTTE MENSAH at PREMIER HAIR AND MAKE-UP; make-up BEA SWEET at JAQ MANAGEMENT using MAC COSMETICS; manicurist SAFFRON GODDARD at SAINT LUKE using DIOR VERNIS and MISS DIOR HANDCREAM; set design GEORGE LEWIN at GEORGE LEWIN STUDIO; casting SVEA GREICHGAUER; photography assistant HARRY ECROYD; fashion assistant INÊS BIZZARO; make-up assistant DAISY MOORE; set design assistant SARAH STONE; production SAINT LUKE