Can you spot Viv?… By the face?
Vivienne Westwood was born in Derbyshire, England in 1941. Her father was a shoemaker and her mother a cotton weaver. When she was 16, her family moved to London and Vivienne attended the Harrow School of Art. After spending just one term there, she left to become a primary school teacher. She met her first husband Derek Westwood in 1962 got married to him. They had a son Ben. In 1965, she met Malcolm McLaren who became her partner in fashion as well as life. Vivienne Westwood is known as the most eccentric and influential of Britain’s fashion designers. Every season, she puts out on the runway the most amazing and spectacular clothes. Her Logo is a royal ORB with a cross on top, bejewelled and impressive as befits the Queen of British fashion.
In 1971, Vivienne Westwood started a shop with her husband called “Let it Rock” on London’s trendy Kings Road. She would spend all night stitching rock-inspired clothes, visiting punk clubs and grunge bars. Three years later, the couple opened another boutique called “Sex”, selling pornographically printed T-shirts and garments with sexual slogans printed on them. In 1977 they changed the name of their boutique to “Seditionaries” and sold garments with a bondage look made of leather. Three years afterwards there was yet another change of name to “World’s End” and Vivienne introduced her Pirate collection, including frilly shirts and romantic swashbuckling styles. It was very successful.
In 1982 Vivienne Westwood introduced the first collection bearing her own name which proved very popular. Her collections were called Buffalo, Savage, and Punkature. A year later, she gave a fashion show in Paris, the first British designer to do so since Mary Quant in the 60’s. People remember it as one of the best shows ever, but chic Parisiennes were horrified by the riotous behaviour and punky London garments. The collection was called “Punkature”.
When her relationship with McLaren ended, Vivienne Westwood’s shops closed but her talent could not be kept down. She opened a studio in London’s Camden area. In 1984 her new collection was called Hypnos and was the first sports collection with fluorescent fabrics on the catwalk. Other collections included crinoline, tweed, Greek drapery and fig-leaf tights.
Vivienne Westwood won her first British Designer of the Year award in 1990 and then a second one the year after. In 1992 Vivienne Westwood was also awarded an O.B.E. and went to receive it from the Queen in a see-through blouse, and a skirt which when swirled around displayed her lack of underwear. She shocked the world.
There has been much talk on Kitmeout recently about the questionable nature of Zimbabwean cotton and whether the fashion indistry should be supporting the country’s corrupt government by using Zimbabwean cotton to produce contemporary denim brands. PRPS is perhaps one of the most high profile brands using Zimbabwean cotton to produce its denimwear. Should brands be using Zimbabwean cotton or not?
Dr. Denim Jeansmakers is about passion; about loving what you do. This attitude has characterised generations of entrepreneurs in the Graah family. The story of Dr. Denim Jeansmakers starts in 1986 when Johannes and Alexander visited a denim factory for the first time. The pace, the smells and the large amounts of garments and denim laid the foundation for ideas around a new jeans brand, which started taking shape around 1994. During the hot summer of 2003, things got serious. Dr. Denim Jeansmakers was established by Morten, Johannes and Alexander Graah, resting on a combination of extensive denim industry experience and academic excellence. In 2004, the first collection was unveiled, and the brand is now available in stores across 24 countries world-wide.
Here the mighty Wu-Tang perform and RZA wears Maharishi Lightning God embroidered Snopants & T-shirt. Maharishi is one of those extraordinary brands which polarises the fashion scene. It’s a little known fact that Kitmeout was the first website to offer Maharishi online back in 2000 via the NIRO MK store.
There has been a lot of talk on Kitmeout recently about the whereabouts of Wale Adeyemi. Well it appears the guy is in the USA promoting a new brand, Fabulous 300.
Is the fashion world’s current obsession with camoflage a reflection of a injured world. Here’s Louis Vuitton’s attempt to jump on the bandwagon:
For its first retrospective in Mainland China, Comme des Garçons didn’t delve into its archives of avant-garde fashion. Instead, the Japanese label converted 5,300 square feet of gallery space into a maze of iconic Comme des Garçons print matter — corporate images, magazine advertisements and invitation cards — from the past 25 years.
Mariah Carey, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce and Rihanna will perform at the fifth annual Fashion Rocks concert celebrating the relationship between music and fashion.
Following perhaps years of speculation, D&G Dolce & Gabbana take a tartan exploration. Whether tartan has the potential to become a part of mainstream fashion only time will tell.
Celebrities and fashionistas joined Longchamp managing director Jean Cassegrain and Belgian artist Jean-Luc Moerman Monday night to help the French accessories brand celebrate its 60th anniversary.
It looks like JAY-Z is wearing the latest Yoropiko Bandana Scarf in this image. JAY-Z is a massive Martin Ksohoh fan and is often seen in RMC jeans.
British hip-hop star Dizzee Rascal went straight in at the top of the UK singles charts on Sunday, the Official UK Charts Company said. The new entry, “Dance wiv Me”, knocked American R&B artist Ne-Yo’s “Closer” into second place. This is supposedly the first time in 12 years an independent lable has gone straight in at No.1
Cruise, arguably the UK’s premier fashion chain, will rebrand its Limeys stores as Cruise, as part of the company’s development strategy. The rebrand will take place during late August across Limeys stores in Derby, Birmingham and Sheffield. “It has always been our intention to introduce the CRUISE concept throughout the UK. The acquisition of Limeys simply accelerated the natural roll out of stores, giving us access to key cities in the Midlandsâ€, commented John Heath, Chief Executive Cruise. “We began online trading at the end of 2007 and will open our 21st store in Bristol later this year. Cruise is now recognized as a national brand and we feel it is the right time to re-badge the midlands stores in line with our move south.â€
Mega group De La Soul are massive Sugar Cane fans and are seen here wearing their favourite denim brand with Flavor Flav the prolific hype man of Public Enemy.
Paul Smith shows his SS09 collection in Paris, Carrousel du Louvre – Salle Lenotre 99 Rue de Rivoli 75001 Paris. The feedback from buyers and press alike was great.
Has the “Cyber-Fence” known as eBay finally got its comeuppance. SKY NEWS has reported that a list of major brands have finally taken the long-awaited initiative against this obscene and covert trade in counterfeit fashion. The funds of which are used to perpetuate all types of illegal activity, including illegal weapons and terrorism. Hopefully, eBay will receive more than a mere slap on the wrists!