Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist

Love her, loathe her...you certainly can't ignore her!

Just before the premiere, Ms Westwood took to twitter denouncing this film. What a curious thing to do...until you have seen it! Let's just say...it doesn't exactly paint a glorious picture of the Dame!

From the off, Ms Westwood is - somewhat - disinterested in the film and 'bored' talking about the thing that made her [i.e. Punk]...apart from revealing the utter contempt she has for [the late] Malcolm McLaren...her one-time partner and father to one of her sons!

She does - however - gush - relentlessy - on about her current husband, Andreas Kronthaler...who is given almost equal screen-time. He is Vivienne's rock and the artistic director of her Westwood brand...does he have anything to say, anything to add? No, not really...but, he does deliver a masterclass in camp!

There are the obligatory outpourings of admiration...some woman [in the V&A] drools over Johnny Rotten's Sex Pistols T-shirt as if it were a priceless masterpiece...sweetheart, it's a piece of badly cut muslin with a few ink blotches slopped all over it! That was what Punk was...self-expression at no cost!

Now, a pair of Westwood bondage trousers will set you back a few hundred quid...how Punk is that!?! The fashion industry is the embodiment of the Emperor's new clothes, it is - quite possibly - the most 'sheepish' of industries. When someone screams 'genius' the flock [hurriedly] gather and [blindly] follow...mewing with sycophantic glee!

The Westwwod brand is as 'Punk' as its price-tag...which means it's open to all sorts of weird and wonderful interpretations...as is this film. Some will find it affectionate. Some may find it illuminating. Some will think the complete opposite...but, the result is an odd blend of the grumpy and the camp...with little in the way of a [fashion] design discourse.

It would seem that prudence is an under-valued and under-employed trait...surely, some designers should preserve their mystique by not appearing on camera...especially when they don't want to be in front of the camera in the first place! One thing that you will take away from this film is...Vivienne Westwood has become more like [a punked-up] Margaret Thatcher than she realises! Wow!

Trailer...