Paris, 03 October 2006 -- Vivienne Westwood is one of the few designers who can successfully mix fashion, art, and social commentary. In her collection for Spring Summer 2007 entitled "I Am Expensiv" (sic), presented in Paris on 3 October 2006, the question she asked was "Can Barbie have a conscience?", criticising the gap between the lavish universe of fashion and a poverty-plagued world. "I designed a sort of barbie doll in a box, with a hole in her head, totally spoilt," Westwood told Reuters backstage after her show where some models paraded out with a mane of golden hair and large belts reading "I am expensive." "The message is 'I am expensive and I am subsidized by all the poor people in the world'. We're terribly spoilt. We have a responsibility to ourselves to do something," she said. The fashion grande dame, who launched the punk look in the 1970s, clashed fabrics and designs in stunning patched-up dresses, a classic knee-length black suit with a Stetson hat, or customized t-shirts worn to a wrapped skirt with a puffed-out behind. One ballroom gown's bottom looked like a satin diaper or sumo fighter string and was covered up with a long trail in the back. The dress attracted appreciative whistles and cheers from a packed audience, front-rowed by Janet Jackson and numerous buyers for Harrods, Galeries Lafayette or Japanese stores. Some of the models, including 1980s Westwood muse Sarah Stockbridge, were as cheeky as the fashion priestess herself, parading out with watering cans or smoking cigarettes. Westwood called again for the release of Leonard Peltier, an American Indian activist convicted for the 1975 killing of two FBI agents. "Leonard Peltier is innocent. 30 years in jail for something he didn't do. I think you have to fight for justice before the law. You can't have culture or civilization if you don't fight for justice. That's the first thing everybody has to try to do."
The model yawning at the end is the best...she is soooo ova it.
jpbatiste 5 years ago
hahah i didn't notice that!
comixdiscomix 5 years ago