At the All Walks Beyond the Catwalk event – ‘Snapped’ – at the National portrait gallery a few weeks ago, a special tour filled the galleries with a sound installation. Pouring from speakers dotted about the place, it lead you around and pierced the consciousness as you absorbed the great works – both the paintings and the exclusive Rankin fashion portraits that accompanied them. The words of designers, models, All Walks members and even girl guides were matched with individual artworks, lending another dimension to the experience.
I stood before a painting of Elizabeth I, who looked regally out of the frame in her usual style and was dressed in a gown studded with enormous gem brooches. Beside the painting, in an easel, stood a huge Rankin photograph of a Vivienne Westwood creation, modelled by a mature All Walks model. Vivienne’s voice emanated from the amplifier beside it, discussing the historical sources that have inspired her.
“You can’t have any ideas unless you look back to the past,” she mused over the speaker. “There’s this idea people have that things are getting better. I don’t think they are.”
Vivienne’s work has always been inspired by history and historical artworks, and literature too. For a long time she has had links with London museum The Wallace Collection, whose rococo interiors she finds inspiring.
A few years ago I attended a reading there of “Active Resistance to Propaganda”, Vivienne’s ‘Manifesto’, which discusses the impact of art on society, among other things. It was an incredible day – an explosive collision of high fashion and art theory, and I couldn’t help but be transported back there as I gazed at the red-headed queen in the painting, and Vivienne’s gentle, growling voice washed over me.
The Manifesto takes the form of a play, to be read aloud, and many of the characters are taken from the story of Alice in Wonderland. In the lecture theatre at the Wallace Collection, Georgia Jagger had the part of Alice, and she was perfect for it– the epitome of the modern ingénue, lost in a wonderland of fashion and glamour. She stood at the front of the room, in a blue dress, shyly crumpled like a lovely paper doll. Her mother, Jerry Hall, sat in the audience, near the front. Georgia was staring nervously at a piece of paper she held in her hands – on it were her lines.
Vivienne stood beside her, wearing pair of her fabulous golden horns like a crown, and although her part was technically the narrator – “AR”, it was pretty hard not to imagine her as The Red Queen.
Most of the other readers were members of the public who had applied for the chance to read a part when booking their tickets. One man, sitting a few rows in front of me, had brought in and was wearing a home-made, oversized costume top hat, for his role: “Mad Hatter”. Some of the others had the odd bit of costume too. Many were of course wearing Vivienne Westwood, and Vivienne was not the only one sporting horns. It was rather like attending a real Mad Hatter’s tea party. I kept looking around for the dormouse.
It wasn’t a fashion show, and it wasn’t quite a debate either, but it was a deliciously intoxicating reminder that fashion is always biting at the heels of art, especially in Vivienne Westwood’s case.
One young audience member accused Vivienne of having a “narrow” attitude in her manifesto, because she excluded many modern artworks from her definition of ‘True Art’. Her response to this was direct and droll. “Oh yes,” she said, waving a hand imperiously, “I was your age once you know. And I was just the same. I was impressed by modern art. I sat in front of Rothko, having big thoughts,” she smiled. “But I grew up.”
Despite the few agitators in the crowd, the majority of Vivienne’s subjects were delighted, with the event, with themselves and most of all with the titian monarch herself. The discussion ran long, and Ros Saville, the Director of the museum came forward to round off proceedings. She thanked all involved and suggested that Vivienne might leave to see to her waiting press outside. Vivienne was clearly put out by the idea that press had anything to do with it. “I think,” she said, regally, “-that what is going on in here right now is much more important than that. Let them wait!”
I couldn’t help but chuckle a little. Long live Queen Viv.

By Natalie Bramwell-Booth

First published on Fashion Capital, September 2011

New Editor of French Vogue plans to promote young designers

Emmanuelle Alt, the new Editor of French Vogue says she plans to include more up and coming designers in the magazine.
“French Vogue is a successful magazine and it has a strong identity,” she told the telegraph this week. “It will probably stay on the same lines but some changes will happen. It will be the same but different.”
“I want to use more young designers,” she said. “We should surprise every time, otherwise it could be boring.”
Alt has made it clear throughout her Vogue career that she feels it is an important role of the magazine to seek out and support gifted new designers.
In her previous position as Fashion Director she proved her zeal and flair for hunting out fresh talent and including it where its not expected, keeping her work fresh and vibrant. She recently styled a couture shoot in London, featuring Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, Chanel, Givenchy, and Alexandre Vauthier. At the last minute, she found a design by the relative unknown, Julien Fournie, and added it to the line-up. “The industry is always waiting, begging for a name,” she said, “But it is rare to find a big ‘trésor’, so you must keep looking.”
Last week she hosted the opening of a brand new platform for young design talent, launched by French Vogue with the support of Mercedes Benz. ‘Le Petit Salon des Jeunes Createurs’ exhibited the work of eight new designers at the Vogue Bar in the Hotel de Crillon, Paris, in the midst of Paris Fashion Week. Each young designer was invited by Vogue to show a selection of the most iconic pieces from their collections. Their work was exhibited in a series of displays designed by Vincent Darré – exotic tableaus which included a tiger’s head, strange masks, stuffed crocodiles, and skulls. Each of the eight were also given a page on French Vogue.com, featuring a video and visual diary about them made exclusively for Vogue.
And Alt is only just getting started: “I will try even more to support young designers. I like to keep my curiosity up,” she said.
In the UK, Vogue has more good news for new designers. The new BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund, launched last year, has chosen its second winner: Christopher Kane.
“I am absolutely delighted to be this year’s winner of the BFC /Vogue Designer Fashion Fund,” said Kane. “It is such an honour to receive this accolade especially when I have such huge respect for all the nominees. The prize enables us to implement our strategic vision for the Christopher Kane business going forward.”
The award consists of a prize of £200,000 and access to a wealth of knowhow in the form of links with director level mentors across the industry. It is given to up-and-coming businesses with a view to boosting the long-term growth of new fashion companies in the UK. This exciting new grant helps to supplement the awards and funding that already exist for brand new designers, awards such as Fashion Forward (of which Kane is a previous winner) and the BFC/ELLE Talent Launch Pad, both also set up by the British Fashion Council.
“This is truly deserved and very exciting at this stage of his business,” said Vogue fashion features director Harriet Quick. “He has created 11 collections and since the get go – those fluoro bandage dresses; You could feel the excitement.”
It is comforting to know that Vogue, the most influential fashion magazine on the planet, has got the backs of emerging designers. They are the lifeblood of the industry, after all. And with Emmanuelle Alt in the driver’s seat in Paris, things are looking up, and up, and up…
“It is a great honour for me, and also a great pleasure, to arrive at the head of Vogue Paris which I know so well,” said Alt when her ascension was announced. “By working with such a talented team, I am confident of developing the incredible potential of the magazine.”
Let’s hope she does. Bonne chance, Emmanuelle!

By Natalie Bramwell-Booth

First published on Fashion Capital, September 2011