With her first showing in London in nine years, the Vivienne Westwood A/W 08 collection was always going to be a highlight of London Fashion Week.

A star studded audience of Cuba Gooding Jr, Kelly Osborne and Hilary Alexander, were treated to manic circus sounds as ’supermodel of the future’ Lily Donaldson opened the show. Frequently using her shows to get her messages across, Westwood used this opportunity to display her displeasure over the controversial Guantanamo Bay detainee camp, aboard placards.

An originator of punk, this collection showed no care for rules with military, disco, silk screen art and the 60’s as combined influences. Short, short dresses in russet browns and brick teamed with thigh high boots made for a sexy, striking look, whilst tartan skirts and trousers in blues, oranges and reds were certainly eye catching.

Accessories were as individual as their creator, with military style box caps, miniature purses, pvc studded belts and vintage inspired, cashmere floppy hats. Fabrics and patterning were married together in abundance with silk, dog-tooth, cashmere, tartan, wool, plaid, cotton, lace, crochet and lycra all used to dramatic effect.

Sublime craftsmanship coupled with over four decades of fashion expertise ensured that specifying highlights from this collection was not easy, however a cherry red, raw silk shift dress, a one-shouldered oyster and black lace dress and a simple yet stunning black mac certainly stood out.

Photography by Nick Stovey.

Del.icio.us digg Facebook Stumble Upon

This entry was posted on Friday, February 15th, 2008 at 9:05 am and is filed under Fashion File, Global Gossip, London Fashion Week. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.