Lily Cole opened Vivienne Westwood’s London Fashion Week show: Red Label SS14 collection
A contemporary performance by Lily Cole opened the SS14 Vivienne Westwood Fashion Show, uniting the unlikely worlds of fashion and politics in the designer’s socially-driven London Fashion Week show. The tone of the show could be best described as something out of Excalibur, with unconventional make-up which transformed the models into walking pieces of renaissance art.
Editors, journalists, bloggers, celebrities and fashionistas alike were left entranced by Lily Cole’s unusually ritualistic performance, integrating atmospheric red lighting, smoke and an eerie soundtrack to leave all in a mystified daze. The 25-year-old model wore a Grecian-esque gown as she sent a social message through her captivating choreography. The performance was witnessed by Dame Westwood herself, who was surprisingly sat in the front row as opposed to backstage.
The show followed in a similar tone, with each model painted by Val Garland with avant-garde make-up, flaunting smeared, eccentric paint upon their faces.
Stand out looks included climate print tees, floral-sequinned dresses and a large silk appliqué bursting with vibrant colours and Georgia O’Keefe-esque designs. Each of Westwood’s carefully tailored designs held a strong stance towards promoting environment change; an ambition which the designer has always endorsed through her fashion.
Anna Kendrick was spotted, alongside actress-slash-singer Paloma Faith, both wearing tartan in the frow of Vivienne Westwood’s Red Label SS14 show. Anna wore a tartan pencil skirt paired with a delicate white blouse and asymmetrically-shaped Byzantium leather coat, while Paloma contrasted with a green, checked trouser-suit and fashioned her vivacious orange hair in one of her iconic up ‘dos.
Lily closed the show with a bouquet of flowers for Vivienne Westwood, who was quick to insist upon the audience’s participation in filling out her ‘This Is My Voice’ postcards which had been left blank upon every seat. Sunday proved to be a perfect opportunity for the designer to continue to use her fashionable status to evoke political change.
Watch the entire show here:
