Vivienne Westwood Red Label: proper English

Westwood’s design team plumbed perennial themes of Britishness and rebellion for the A/W ’12 collection.

All the eras of English style had a turn. The Teddy Boy influence entered in suits with jackets purposefully mis-buttoned, and skirts with flying-buttress pleats. Then there were the public schoolgirls, all rugby shirts over knotted Masai-print skirts.

In a spot of historical mish-mash the design team called the Time Traveller set, obi belts completed the curve-enhancing work started by Westwood’s famous corsetry. The young Romantics stopped by too, with cravat-knotted silk shantung blouses and a fantastic black jacket that fastened with chains in place of buttons.

If it wasn’t as outrageous as past seasons (no bare-breasted models or Pamela Anderson cameos here, thankyouverymuch), the lack of headline-grabbing gestures allowed the clothes to shine. The exaggerated, asymmetrical lapels on a camel coat couldn’t obscure that it had perfect little shoulders. Sparkly lavender intarsia polo-neck jumpers were accessible and fun. A group of cocktail dresses reminded us that Dame Viv gives good jersey—some of the best, in fact.

The show also served as an advertisement for the Environmental Justice Foundation’s ‘No Place Like Home’ campaign in aid of climate refugees. Westwood inscribed the models with runic, tattoo-like symbols alluding to climate change and used the show notes to spread the word about her line of charity t-shirts. Almost hidden under her drawings was the impressive fact that Red Label has raised £1.15 million for the Cool Earth charity since its last show. Which goes to show: fashion that doesn’t take itself too seriously can make a serious impact too.

Award-winning illustrator Clym Evernden created these evocative drawings exclusively for ELLE at the Red Label show. Click through the gallery above for Evernden’s graphic interpretation of the looks, and