Vivienne Westwood

Queer & Chic. Vivienne Westwood SS26

| Design & Culture by Ed

For spring-summer 2026 menswear, Andreas Kronthaler returned to Milan Fashion Week – and it did good to Vivienne Westwood, the brand whose soul was kind of devoid in the past few seasons.

The collection blended Kronthaler’s affection for fluid silhouettes and Milano’s sartorial heritage. Tailoring was slouchy and nonchalant, but utterly chic. The coats were broad-shouldered or leopard-printed, and full of Milanese charisma. Hunky men in dresses and killer-high platforms were an exuberant view – especially when seen in a passeggiata through a San Babila café and then out on street side marble-floor arcade. A rose-embroidered tabard with a mid-calf red satin boot was a look that was both ecclesiastical in its clerical regality and campy in its unabashed queerness.

This collection felt like one created in the presence of Vivienne’s spirit – or even blessed by her, straight from the fashion heaven.

ED’s SELECTION:

Vivienne Westwood Doll XL Embellished Tote

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Essential. Andreas Kronthaler Vivienne Westwood SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

Deep plunge neckline, cinched waist and mid-length: that’s Vivienne Westwood‘s signature, ultra-feminine and ultra-flattering dress that charismatic women like Tracey Emin and Pamela Anderson still love and wear. Andreas Kronthaler smartly revived the super-sensual silhouette in his Paris Fashion Week outing that toned-down on his sweet-spot for avant-garde, and focused solely on Westwood essentials. “It’s just clothes, clothes that I think symbolize a very powerful, feminine woman, which I think we are looking for and need more than anything,” said Kronthaler. That’s definitely a direction the designer should keep on developing, because his more “arty” collections as of late felt overly gimmick-y. Spring-summer 2025 is chic, but never prim. Just like the late Dame Vivienne.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Wild Things. Andreas Kronthaler Vivienne Westwood AW24

| Design & Culture by Ed

Wild things were going on at the Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood runway this season. The autumn-winter 2024 show’s bizarrely eclectic adventures in time travel unfolded around some highly entertaining performance art by Sons of Sissy, a trio of dancers and musicians who blended pagan ritual with high camp and impressions of birdsong and weather events – the bum drumming was a particular highlight. With Sam Smith, Lila Moss and Amelia Hamlin on the catwalk, Andreas Kronthaler presented a collection that was inspired by a Giovanni Battista Moroni exhibition in Milan, and also by protective sportswear (jockstraps were seen all over the line-up). Signature corseted gowns with exaggerated frills and ruffles were juxtaposed with super revealing menswear and jersey materials. Grotesque can be fun and intriguing, but sometimes it might get out of hands.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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