After Anastase on day one and Todd Lynn earlier today, the third time made the trend with Vivienne Westwood s Red Label collection: London s Fall 2010 catwalk is Copenhagen-conscious. As in keenly aware of the impact of climate change. Without acknowledging global warming per se, Westwood was apocalyptically predicting a billion people left on earth by 2100. Her antidote to mass extermination? "Loyalty 2 Gaia," love and respect to Mother Earth. That s what the T-shirt said. Quite how the rest of the collection was supposed to inspire Gaia love remained a mystery. It did, however, serve as yet another reminder of how rich the Westwood legacy is, as it ran the gamut from a tribal blanket coat and a micro-mini suit in the designer s beloved tartan to a practically prim plaid skirt and puff-sleeved blouse that wouldn t have looked out of place in the sixties on the schoolteacher Westwood once was. (A strapless dress in a sequined leopard spot made me wonder if the designer was channeling the sexpots she remembered from that same era.)
There aren t many other designers who could dress the Queen Mother and Pixie Geldof from the same collection. For the billions of women who aren t either of those individuals, standout items included some beautifully cut coats; some simple, chic shirtdresses, particularly an evening shift in midnight paillettes; and some sexy little suits, including one in purple with a heart-shaped lapel trimmed in pink. Inevitably, in a collection this broad, there were some real stinkers, but, with one model sharpening a long knife while she stalked the catwalk in a butcher s apron, it s best to stay schtum on those. Out of "Loyalty 2 Viv," of course.
