One-on-one with
Vivienne
Westwood
Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 11
Gold Label Runway Show
Vivienne
Westwood
Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 11
Gold Label Runway Show
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By Qianna Smith
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There is always a message behind the madness that is Vivienne Westwood. For
Spring/Summer 2011, the designer's memo of the moment was outlined in 11
bullet points that all centered on the Earth's sustainability and -- most importantly --
climate change. Westwood extracted designs from the past to remind us to "buy
less, choose well, wear it over and again."
This theme of eco-accountability was also cleverly depicted in the beauty scheme
of her show. As we know, the climate can affect the condition of the skin, and
makeup artist Val Garland and the M∙A∙C pro team honed into this idea using white
paint on the models' faces and in their hair, which embodied polar damage.
“The background of it all is climate change. I took as my theme this idea of lost
civilizations, and there for the makeup was looking like people were dead, actually
from a tomb,” said Westwood backstage. “I also had this idea of a little girl who
was left on a mountain side in Peru and was burnt and scorched to death,
because she was waiting for the sun to marry her, almost a look of a mummy that
lost its bandages.”
Spring/Summer 2011, the designer's memo of the moment was outlined in 11
bullet points that all centered on the Earth's sustainability and -- most importantly --
climate change. Westwood extracted designs from the past to remind us to "buy
less, choose well, wear it over and again."
This theme of eco-accountability was also cleverly depicted in the beauty scheme
of her show. As we know, the climate can affect the condition of the skin, and
makeup artist Val Garland and the M∙A∙C pro team honed into this idea using white
paint on the models' faces and in their hair, which embodied polar damage.
“The background of it all is climate change. I took as my theme this idea of lost
civilizations, and there for the makeup was looking like people were dead, actually
from a tomb,” said Westwood backstage. “I also had this idea of a little girl who
was left on a mountain side in Peru and was burnt and scorched to death,
because she was waiting for the sun to marry her, almost a look of a mummy that
lost its bandages.”
To create the beauty concept of the
collection, Westwood essentially took
things from culture and things that
surrounded her everyday life. “If I was
reminded of something while I was
working then I extended that in all
aspects of the collection. I have always
been interested in the Commedia
dell'arte,” gushed Dame Westwood.
The Commedia dell'arte is a form of
theatre that began in Italy in the mid-16th
century and is characterized by masked
improvised performances. “I wanted [the
models to wear] a mask of a dead
person, but instead we created a
Commedia dell'arte type mask. The
reason I did that was because some of
the fabric in the collection has very bright
checks and this reminded me of that,”
said Westwood, who wanted the
makeup to reflect a mask with grossly
exaggerated features. “I just developed
these little arbitrary ideas and it naturally
came together. One of the prints you
saw in the collection was of a lotus
flower on a Chinese vase in my house. I
just took things from around me and it
fused together.”
collection, Westwood essentially took
things from culture and things that
surrounded her everyday life. “If I was
reminded of something while I was
working then I extended that in all
aspects of the collection. I have always
been interested in the Commedia
dell'arte,” gushed Dame Westwood.
The Commedia dell'arte is a form of
theatre that began in Italy in the mid-16th
century and is characterized by masked
improvised performances. “I wanted [the
models to wear] a mask of a dead
person, but instead we created a
Commedia dell'arte type mask. The
reason I did that was because some of
the fabric in the collection has very bright
checks and this reminded me of that,”
said Westwood, who wanted the
makeup to reflect a mask with grossly
exaggerated features. “I just developed
these little arbitrary ideas and it naturally
came together. One of the prints you
saw in the collection was of a lotus
flower on a Chinese vase in my house. I
just took things from around me and it
fused together.”
Q+A caught-up backstage with Malian model Nana Keita, who told us she was made-up to look like a cracked China doll. “You can always count on Vivienne to create a look that will make
you think,” said Nana.
you think,” said Nana.
Backstage Vivienne Westwood talks to Q+A's Senior Editor, Qianna Smith, about how she designed the beauty concept for
her Gold Label's S/S 2011 collection. Think masked China dolls inspired by Commedia dell'arte
her Gold Label's S/S 2011 collection. Think masked China dolls inspired by Commedia dell'arte
