Confusing Vivienne Westwood for Margaret Thatcher is an unlikely mistake to make, but in his homemade lockdown look book and film, Andreas Kronthaler gave Dame Viv such a powerfully Iron Lady coif he confessed that even he saw a passing resemblance. “But in the end the look we went for was more Raine Spencer,” he added over Zoom, referring to the British socialite.
Perhaps it was the concentrated nature of this minimally staffed shoot—four models in all, shot by Kronthaler (who doubled as one of them) on his iPhone, with the intention of limiting as far as possible Westwood’s exposure—but it resulted in an especially intense expression of AK’s work to reflect that of his muse and wife. There was a nice symmetry in the casting of Sara Stockbridge, a longtime Westwood womenswear model, who joined what looks like a fun day of dressing up.
But as what? Well, had this not been designed shortly before lockdown began, you could have read it as an Andreas in Wonderland parody of England’s increasingly loopy and dysfunctional eccentricity, but it predated the current crisis and hailed instead from the last one. Trying to parse these garments was much like trying to understand why Westwood’s beautiful bicycle was billed as a Pashley yet looked so much like a Moulton: Better just to sit back and enjoy the ride. Views to savor included the Buy Local London map–print shirt worn by Stockbridge, VW in full “Acid Raine” mode, and Kronthaler in leggings and a wig that harked back to Flashdance. The clothing was as archetypally of the house as the expression was divertingly barking. Sustainable, sensational, confrontational, and uncontainable: What a feeling.
