Fashion: Dame's collection is child's play

Sep 4 2008 by Laura Davis, Liverpool Daily Post

Laura Davis takes a look at Vivienne Westwood’s new looks for autumn/winter

Above left: Rowan, left, wears Red Label tartan suit jacket, £379; skirt, £185; white shirt, £145; Mary Jane black shoes, £349; Vernice Orb bag £595; while Tom, right, wears maroon shirt, £149; blue V-neck jumper, £169; jacket with leather trim. Above right: Tom wears classic white shirt, £149; V-neck jumper, £179; grey trousers, £199; Pirate boots, £295; Alex belt, £85; Rowan wears Gold Label white blouse, £399; Gold Label black skirt, £449; Mary Jane Melissa shoes, £95; bone diamante choker, £205

THIRTY-SIX school- children helped Vivienne Westwood design her AW08 Gold Label collection.

No, you haven’t misread that, and I am not writing this after four glasses of Pinot – the grande dame of fashion truly did ask a group of seven and eight-year-olds to paint their ideas, using the Vietnam War as their influence.

The result is a dramatic collection of slashed black taffeta, duchess and gold lamé, knits and billowing silk, cut along minimalist lines.

Above left: Red Label dress, £329; three-pearl choker with orb, £335. Above right: Classic black T-shirt, £50; cardigan, £439; jeans, £199; Pirate boots, £295

"I wanted them to be simplified, theatrical and, in the end, magical – like magicians without age who had lived for millennia," she explains.

This season’s Red Label is inspired by the girls who flocked to the designer’s King’s Road shop, Let it Rock, in the 70s, working class women rubbing shoulders with the daughters of aristocrats.

Meanwhile, Westwood’s Man collection draws on those suave stars of the silver screen, Clark Gable and Cary Grant, with fabrics including Glen Urquhart checks, pin stripes, dogtooth and herringbone.

Above left: Red Label tartan suit jacket, £379; skirt, £185; white shirt, £145; Mary Jane black shoes, £349; Vernice Orb bag £595. Above right: Maroon shirt, £149; blue V-neck jumper, £169; jacket with leather trim.

* THE beautifully restored Victoria Museum & Gallery, with its tiled walls and rich red brick, is the backdrop for this week’s fashion shoot.

An £8.6m regeneration project has turned Liverpool University’s most striking building into a tourist attraction with rich and varied fine art, ceramics, and heritage collections.

However, the Grade II-listed building, designed by Alfred Waterhouse, is worth a visit just for itself.

Notes

Location: Victoria  Museum & Gallery,  Ashton Street, Liverpool;  tel: 0151 794 2348;  opening hours: Tues -  Sat, 10am-5pm

Models: Rowan  Jamieson and Tom Green  of Boss, www.bossmodelmanagement.co.uk 

Photographer: Tracey  O’Neill

Hair: Kerry Johnson at  Voodou, 98, Bold Street,  Liverpool (Rowan), Sam  Rice, Voodou For Him, 4- 6 Button Street, Liverpool  (Tom), tel: 0844 445 7889

Make-up: Lottie Davies

Stockist: Vivienne  Westwood, Cavern Walks,  8, Mathew Street,  Liverpool; tel: 0151 227  2700; www.hervia.com

lauradavis@dailypost.co.uk