Now that the fashion world is flat, everything is valid. That s at least partly the sentiment behind Vivienne Westwood s Fall collection, which she dubbed World Wide Woman after a powerful muse who is, in this big, bad new world, a guardian of culture, values, and—a cause long near and dear to this designer s heart—the planet.
But leave it to Westwood to turn the whole thing into a glitter-drenched party, with a sparkling gold runway and shoes to match. With a mantra of "anything goes," the designer gave her wild-haired models smudgy but punk-warrior makeup, and dressed them in everything from very English slouchy tailored tweed coats and banker-stripe suits to gold brocade leggings and a puff-sleeved burgundy silk coat to tiny little festival-faring denim shorts.
There was truly something for any girl and any mood. The prim lady got a body-hugging peplum suit spilling a ruffled jabot. For the party girl, a twisted-up strapless fifties frock dotted with the same gold paillettes that covered the runway. There was an ultra-glam tribute to Jean Harlow in a gold embroidered column. And Westwood is hoping there s an activist among her variegated crowd who s chomping at the bit to wear an intarsia knit that says "Trees Save Lives."
Last but not least, the show ended up with a corseted black-eyed bride holding a bouquet and bedecked with what must have been yards of white tulle. She marched out to the strains of "I Will Survive," a triumphant and apt sentiment for a girl on that special day, for women everywhere, and for Westwood herself.
