Vivienne Westwood’s SS24 collection, and the memorialisation of fashion designers
Content warning: Mentions of suicide
“I could not give away the rest of his shoes. I stood there for a moment, then realized why: he would need shoes if he was to return. The recognition of this thought by no means eradicated the thought. I have still not tried to determine (say, by giving away the shoes) if the thought has lost its power.” – Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking
People connect with their clothes not just as something to throw on, but we buy, keep, and wear items which connect with a personal sense of style. This level of connections between fashion and personality takes on new extremes when examining the work of designers, who devote their entire lives to expressing creativity, culture, and sense of self for others to wear and watch down runways. In moments of mourning, people latch on to the connection their loved ones have had with fashion items — heirloom jewellery, a knitted sweater given as a gift, or a pair of shoes waiting to be worn again.
For the Spring/Summer 2024 season, designer Andreas Kronthaler confronted this mystifying connection with his Paris Fashion Week Ready-to-Wear collection under the Vivienne Westwood label. Kronthaler was married to the namesake designer until her passing in December 2022. Following her death, he began a process known too intimately by those who have grieved a loved one; going through Westwood’s personal wardrobe to clear things away. As he prepared items to be moved into an archive, he selected over 200 of Westwood’s looks, photographed them, threw numbers in a hat, and randomly chose 34 for the runway. He revealed in an interview with Hypebeast that he settled on 34 outfits to represent the number of years he had known his former collaborator. The name of the show, 43 Old Town, was a reference to the house he shared with the Dame. The collection emulates the punk fashion icon’s personal style, with ornate tailoring fit for a British fashion house. Popping with life atop a charcoal grey setting, the clothes drew viewers back to an image of Westwood as she burst unapologetically into the fashion world. The show never allowed itself to become a funeral procession for the late designer, instead becoming a celebration of her work and influence in the field. The models’ walks were scored by a jazz-influenced percussion as they strutted proudly past onlookers and cellphone photographers. Westwood’s own granddaughter, Cora Corré, closed the show wearing a bridal gown with a corseted piece from one of the designer’s former collections entitled War & Peace. Similarly to the purpose of a funeral or celebration of life, this collection appeared to be a peaceful send-off to “the high priestess of punk,” acknowledging how her contributions to fashion will carry on for generations.
Other fashion houses have also dealt with the loss of their namesake designers in similar ways. In 2018, 20 years following the murder of Gianni Versace, his sister, designer Donatella Versace shared a runway dedicated to her brother. Models walked in some of the prints Versace favoured in his collections, what Harper’s Bazaar described as “baroque swirls, butterfly prints, and pop art.” These visuals were sewn together into new silhouettes and designs that merged the past, present, and future of the eponymous house. This show was closed not just with a direct relative, but with five of the famed nineties supermodels, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Helena Christensen, Carla Bruni, and Claudia Schiffer, who worked closely with the late designer. Here, Versace’s connection to a broader pop culture was emphasised rather than just his personal style. With further distance from his passing, the collection was able to move forward to celebrate the legacy of a man already laid to rest.
When Alexander McQueen passed away in 2010, it sent a global shock as he took his own life at the age of 40, less than two weeks after the death of his mother. Grief took hold of those he was closest to, and extended through his work to those who had connected with it. During McQueen’s own Spring/Summer 2024 runway show, designer Sarah Burton chose to dedicate her last collection to the namesake creator, stating “to the memory of Lee Alexander McQueen, whose wish was always to empower women, and to the passion, talent, and loyalty of my team.” The fashion pieces themselves were inspired by “female anatomy, Queen Elizabeth I, the blood red rose, and Magdalena Abakanowicz, a transgressive and powerfully creative artist who refused ever to compromise her vision.” The looks featured floral imagery, bold colours, and cutting detail, all emblematic of the brand. While the outfits themselves were not tied to McQueen’s existing work, they embodied his boldness for an expanded roster of talented craftspeople. McQueen had also been celebrated in the past with an exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art titled Savage Beauty, with a coinciding MET Gala theme and exhibit publication. The exhibit’s book became the museum’s best-selling publication, with over 340,000 copies in the first decade, and featured many of McQueen’s looks and signature visual storytelling.
As people assemble their wardrobes, their own collection of clothes, they imbed their thoughts, culture, creativity, and personality into each piece they choose to wear and safeguard for the future. It is these artifacts of oneself which can be clung onto in search of peace and memory. They are the sweater you kept from a former lover, the pants your friend accidentally bleached when colouring your hair, or the orientation shirt you had signed by all the friends who welcomed you into college. We carry memories of people and time in the objects we choose to represent us, and we can only hope they will become prized possessions one day worthy of a Paris Fashion Week runway.
