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.
