Today's Vivienne Westwood Red Label show was a relatively subdued affair. Emphasis on relatively: Per usual, the collection featured feral hair and makeup, and a grab bag of looks. It also closed with ZZ Top's "Gimme All Your Lovin'" and the charming sight of model Eliza Cummings, in a strapless red ball gown, picking up the tiny Charlotte Free and carrying her down the catwalk, as Free was struggling in her shoes. Too often it goes without saying that Westwood wants everyone—models included—to have fun at her shows, and in her clothes. Well, good on her for that.
And good on Westwood, too, for exerting some real design discipline this season. There was a clear proposition threading its way through the show, which was to take suiting pieces—jacket, blouse, trousers—and highlight one element by giving it a sculptural dimension, or magnifying its proportion. The idea fared better in some garments than others: A wrapped suit jacket with a draped lapel was very good, whereas a pair of cropped trousers with a seriously low-hanging crotch was a little silly. In general, though, these pieces worked, as did the simplest of Westwood's draped dresses, Grecian-looking silk jersey numbers in black and white, and diaphanous, bias-cut frocks in a rust-tone print. There were other nice looks along the way, as well, and several kooky ones, inevitably. You could argue that Westwood should edit those pieces out, but that would be tantamount to suggesting she have less fun.
