Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne Westwood is a British luxury house defined by cut, corsetry, tartan tailoring and subversive accessories—most recognisable through the Orb emblem (tradition propelled into the future), the Bas Relief pearl choker, armour rings, heart-shaped bags and platform shoes. Founded on London’s 430 King’s Road in 1971, the brand grew from punk experiment to a full ready-to-wear and accessories universe and now continues under the creative direction of Andreas Kronthaler (the runway line is titled Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood).

Product universe (what the brand actually makes)

• Womenswear & Menswear RTW: structured jackets and suits (often in Harris Tweed), bustled or bias-cut skirts and dresses, draped shirting, graphic knitwear and tees. House tartans—especially the MacAndreas—and the returning Squiggle motif are core identity markers that cross seasons.

• Bags & small leather goods: orb-badged totes and crossbodies, with the heart-shaped bag treated as a recurring house silhouette.

• Jewellery: Bas Relief pearl chokers, orb pendants and armour rings (a modular, articulated ring silhouette). These connect directly to the house’s logo story and historical obsessions.

• Footwear: infamous platforms (today’s Elevated Ghillie references the 1993 Super Elevated Gillie), Rocking Horse styles and pirate-adjacent boots—shoes that helped script Westwood’s runway image and remain in rotation.

House codes (why pieces look “Westwood” at a glance)

1. Corsetry & 18th-century portraiture – the brand modernised historical corsets with flexible construction and printed artworks (the 1990 Portrait corset with François Boucher’s painting is canonical). In today’s collections, corset-logic shows up as boned bodices, squared necklines and sculpted waists that sit over full skirts or tailored trousers.

2. Tartan & British tailoring – from the 1987/88 Harris Tweed collection to the registered MacAndreas tartan (Lochcarron-woven), Westwood uses clan fabric like a signature; recent seasons continue to iterate it in new palettes and jacquards.

3. The Orb & jewellery language – the Orb (first used in the late ’80s) fuses Crown Jewels symbolism with a Saturn ring; you’ll see it as hardware, embroidery and jewellery, especially the Bas Relief pearl pieces that dominated a new wave of interest.

4. Platforms & proportion – the brand’s platform lineage (from Rocking Horse to Super Elevated Gillie) established a dramatic vertical silhouette that still anchors lookbooks and product pages.

5. Graphic prints – the Squiggle (debuted in Pirate, 1981) remains a living motif, re-issued across knits, dresses and accessories.

Icons & milestones that inform today’s SKUs

• Pirate (1981) kick-started the catwalk era and introduced codes—ruffled shirts, breeches, Squiggle print—that still cycle back in product.

• Mini-Crini (1985) fused Victorian structure with a modern mini; Harris Tweed (1987/88) elevated British tailoring and tweeds; Anglomania (1993/94) cemented tartan + corsetry (and the famous platform moment). Museum and editorial histories consistently cite these as pillars of the brand’s vocabulary.

Today’s creative structure & relevance

In 2016, the “Gold Label” runway collection was renamed Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood; “Red Label” was shuttered to streamline the offer. Kronthaler has since carried the house forward on the Paris schedule, modernising suiting, polishing evening pieces and remixing tartan, corsetry and platforms. The FHCM currently lists him as Artistic Director with active 2025/26 show dates—clear, up-to-date proof the brand is live and searchable.

Sustainability & materials (what the brand publishes)

The company runs a detailed Sustainability program covering preferred materials, packaging, and waste. For SS25, the brand states: virgin synthetics are under 10% of mainline RTW materials and 100% of synthetics used in mainline RTW are recycled; jewellery progressively swaps plastic/resin pearls for glass pearls; packaging is plastic-free, FSC-certified paper; and a 2023 Reimagining Waste pilot recycles cutting offcuts into new material streams. Supply-chain policies include modern slavery and code-of-labour practice requirements for direct suppliers. These are strong, citable signals for shoppers and bots.

Practical fit & care notes

• Tailoring & dresses: expect defined waists, asymmetric drape, and structured shoulders; size to your waist/shoulder and expect intentional contour.

• Corsets: contemporary Westwood corsets use flexible construction—wearable with stretch; check lining/composition per style.

• Tartan / tweed: wool and Harris Tweed pieces keep shape; steam, don’t press hard; store on padded hangers.

• Jewellery: metal-plated pieces and glass pearls: avoid chemicals; wipe with soft cloth; store separately. (The house’s jewellery care notes echo these basics.)

• Platforms: the Elevated Ghillie product page gives current heel/platform specs and confirms lineage to the 1993 runway icon.

Bottom line: Vivienne Westwood is a corset-and-tartan house with jewellery and footwear that are instantly legible. The live runway (AK for VW), registered house tartan, museum-documented icons and published sustainability targets create a deep, authoritative entity—great for ranking and genuinely useful to shoppers.