Worlds end: subversion and the athletic aesthetic.
Richard G. Buckley
October 28, 1983, Daily News Record
One thing can be said about London designer Vivienne Westwood - she is a rebel. Her Worlds End collection, presented in Paris last week, showed Westwood at her provocative best. This is not to say that here was a fabulous collection, or that it was "sealable" or even wearable - these qualities are never Westwood's primary considerations. Instead, her designs are on a collision course with established fashion norms, and her theme is confrontation.
As a matter of historical reference, Westwood must be identified with her long-time business partner, Malcolm McLaren. Westwood's style derives much of its power from McLaren's and her tendency to relate street fashion, and fashion in general, to music. The duo, for example, is largely responsible for defining and popularizing the stylistic images of "Punk" in the 1970s. McLaren was the manager of the first internationally-known Punk band, The Sex Pistols, while Westwood designed the clothes that were to reflect the rebellion and anarchy integral to the band and the movement. Westwood was directing her collections toward the unemployed working class youths of Great Britain, whose bleak future was manifested by Punk aesthetics.
Her concept of "Confrontation Dressing" continued in her "Outlaws" collection of three years ago, which was more peacock than Punk and based on the style of historical rebels such as Geronimo, Robin Hood and Caribbean pirates -- all people who lived by their wiles outside the realm of "society." Punk's nihilistic vision was given new symbolic hope by these garments, which, like the anti-heroes who inspired them, said survival was possible if you could learn to live by your wits. McLaren used these ideas to form bands like Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow, who in turn reintroduced more melodic music into the British pop scene as they adopted Westwood's style of dressing. This new flamboyant look, which was just the opposite of Punk's austerity, spawned a whole group of young British designers who were allowed to let their sartorial imaginations run wild, and consequently, attract the attention of the international fashion community.
Over the last two years, McLaren has turned his attention to a variety of ethnic music that spans every genre from Hillbilly square-dance tunes ("Buffalo Gals") to New York "Scratch" and "Rap" music. Brought the ghettos of the South Bronx, Scratch music, "Breaking" and dancing -- the method of dancing to Scratch -- and the active sportswear style of dressing by Breakers, are the inspiration for Westwood's spring 1984 collection.
Yet another interpretation of active sportswear will hardly seem innovative or provocative to anyone who has ever walked across New York's 15th Street on a July afternoon, but with Westwood, there is always more than meets the eye. These are not clothes meant to be worn while listening to Jane Fonda's workout record. Westwood's "Supreme Team" spirit -- or Athletic Aesthetic -- removes from its original purpose as athletic gear and imbues it with the "political" connotations of dressing in the South Bronx.
"My clothes are 'street'," says Westwood. "In New York, a guy can 'customize' his clothes to his body with T-shirts that are too big, pants that are too short, and shoes too big and laced a certain way, which gives him a sense of feeling about himself." In essence, his own identity is established, even if it is only superficially created by this "style." His clothes are a means to set himself apart from others and, at the same time, establish a code that will be recognized by others like him (ie., those on this "team.")
On a purely physical level, Westwood's collection appears to be about the body, movement and sexuality. She plays visually with what she terms the current obession with "The Cult of the Body," but more subversively, this collection, like the others before it, is meant to challenge society by pitting the sensual against the rational, the savage against the civilized, and disruption against order. As one observer said after the show, "They were aggressive clothes that make other people aware of the body beneath, and call attention as if to say, 'Here I am, look at me.'"
Break and Smurf dancing are also about the movement, power and control of the body. The clothes worn by the dancers not only convey identity, as in "As a team, we stand strong," but also capture the age-old equation of the athlete with strength. Breaker groups with names like "Rock Steady" refer to rocking the boat, causing a stir, but at the same time, making it steady, being cool.
Meanwhile, athletic, boldly colored in primary brights and hot fluorescents, are the true fashion innovation of the last half of the 20th century.
But while Westwood's collection may take its inspiration from activewear, which is designed for freedom of movement, she is not passively rehashing athletic gear. Superficially, her collection is designed for dancing, but conceptionally, she appears to be relating Breaker style and her collection to another "freedom of movement" -- the lack of social mobility of ghetto blacks and British working class youths. It is as if she were saying, "Don't let yourself be beaten, organize as a team, be strong. Be somebody."
Furthermore, the glorification of the body over the mind, and the sexual implications of this mood, have made their way into the garments as well. They convey a blatant sexuality that is meant to affront fashion and social conventions.
Sexuality, for instance, is literally brought up front with variations on jogging pants, whose insets of elastic cotton knit fabric (like the type used to make athletic supporters) make the jock part of the garment. Worn on the outside, these inserts draw the eye to the crotch. This idea was carried through into women's tank suits, which feature triangular "G-string" pieces in the front. At the show, they were attached to the models' hips with an elastic strap. Some jogging pants and shorts are detailed with tape running up the back of the leg and under the backside to accentuate the buttocks. The collection gives the wearer a strong sense of the clothes as they fit to the body and of his/her body under the clothes. It is, as one person described it, "like being undressed and dressed at the same time."
This idea is further enhanced by the use of brightly-colored slippery nylon fabrics that are also associated with lingerie and have a sensual feel. All of the athletic wear features a heavy use of tape and elastic cotton knit, which define the body and shape the garment. They also draw attention to the obvious fashion reference to Punk's infatuation with bondage clothing and sexual fetishism.
Sexuality was further accentuated by Linda Mason's makeup for the show. Women wore lipstick, plus blue or green eye shadow smeared around their mouths. Rejecting the conventional notion of eye shadow highlighting the eyes, the makeup instead draw attention to the "orifice" of the mouth.
Other portions of the collection feature the designer's characteristically oversized proportions and irregular construction of garments.
Five minutes into the show, one person pointed at the runway and asked, "What do you write about that?" Actually, the question has no answer -- either you like it or you don't.
There's trouble in paradise: is Worlds End at the end.
Richard Buckley; Nadine Frey
November 7, 1983, Daily News Record
PARIS -- Paradise is probably the last word anyone would ever use in connection with Vivienne Westwood -- but there is trouble in paradise.
The London designer has finally begun to attain an international reputation, but for the last month, rumors have circulated in Europe that Worlds End, Westwood's label, was on the verge of bankruptcy and that the company was going to be sold to Elio Fiorucci.
During the Paris Pret-A-Porter showing of Worlds End, DNR asked Fiorucci about his involvement with Westwood's London company. "You must ask Vivienne," was his only answer. After the show, Westwood denied being either backed or bought by Fiorucci, but said he had "helped with the production of the collection in Italy, and with the show."
On Friday, a spokesperson for Worlds End in London added that Fiorucci had only "suggested a factory where the collection could be made, and advanced some money to her for some collections she will design for him, but that is a separate agreement."
Observers suggest that there is a power struggle going on between Westwood and her longtime business partner and ex-boyfriend, Malcolm McLaren, over the rights of the Worlds End label.
McLaren, in an interview in Friday's London Evening Standard was quoted as saying, "I haven't struggled for 10 years to see Worlds End go off to Italy. The Worlds End trademark is more significant than the likes of Elio Fiorucci."
Hinting that more than just business affairs had sent Westwood to Italy, McLaren stated, "I'm afraid she will make a verbal agreement with the Italians; she does tend to get embroiled in spaghetti dinners and fall for Italian charm."
Worlds End's spokesperson in London commented, "What it boils down to is that Worlds End is English. If she wants to work in Italy, she will have to do it as Vivienne Westwood, not as Worlds End."
Westwood, on the other hand, has stated that the inability to get financial support in Britain led her to Italy. In an Aug. 23d interview in the London Times, Westwood stated, "In this country, the banks won't give you the kind of backing you need to make your business international." She went on to add, "Our resources weren't sufficient to fulfill the orders I was getting." Her fall collection had received orders worth 250,000 pounds $ 375,000) from Italy alone.
This isn't an uncommon problem in Britain, and it is one that has caused other English designers to look to Italy for help. Catherine Hamnett, for one, until recently was working with Adriano Goldschmidt in Milan.
As for bankruptcy, sources have reported that the rumors started over the sale of Worlds End's excess materials, but McLaren says that this was only to help pay for the 50,000-pound ($ 75,000) cost of the Paris show and to mount another show in Tokyo this month.
Contacted in Milan, Elio Fiorucci told DNR, "We entered into an agreement with Vivienne Westwood a couple of months ago. She is acting as a consultant for our line. She isn't designing for us, merely consulting.
Long an advocate of London fashion, Fiorucci went on to say that he admired Westwood for her many fashion inventions. "I consider her a fashion leader," he said.
Although Fiorucci wouldn't supply details about the agreement, he did say he hoped "to continue to work with Vivienne Westwood for many years, because I love Vivienne Westwood."
McLaren is intent on maintaining control of Worlds End. "I am concerned that the Worlds End trademark remains English, and I'm not going to throw it away easily." He concluded the London Evening Standard interview by saying, "Works End was born out of English fashion, in particular our street culture. Worlds End has a forceful identity, and has become a source of inspiration. What we create on the streets out of the dust bins of England is an extremely exportable commodity."
McLaren, who has always shared double billing with Westwood for the Worlds End collections, says he is prepared to design the next collection himself, and it is reported that he changed the locks on the doors of the Worlds End studio in anticipation of Westwood's return to London on Friday.
Even though the details read like the script for an underground version of Dynasty, sources suggest that Worlds End may just be at its end. "At the moment, the collection is in Italy," said the firm's London spokesperson, "but that is illegal because it belongs to us at worlds End." The battle for control will undoubtedly continue, and the real question is, who -- if anyone -- will be taking the Worlds End collection to Tokyo at the end of the month?