Vivienne Westwood's contribution to tackling the overconsumption problem

"I am a fashion designer and an activist. You already know what I'm up to, I use fashion to stop climate change and mass extinction of life on earth" (Vivienne Westwood).

A designer that encompasses the direction that the fashion industry should be following - if there is to be a future for the industry at all. With her initial passion for design coming from participation in youth subcultures, the use of fashion as a vehicle to communicate a message has always been the aim. ‘Too fast to live, too young to die’ was the name of the first store, opened in 1972, an interesting and thought-provoking name alluding to the fact we live our lives so fast and destructively, yet still believe we are too precious and young to die. Through a plethora of store re-brandings, prior to reaching the renowned Vivienne Westwood brand, she experimented with explicit and controversial slogan t-shirts, upcycling garments with fetish-style hardware, and reworking classic silhouettes: Vivienne had inspired the DIY aesthetic that the media now know as ‘punk rock’. The last of these stores is still running, and with regards to the issue of overconsumption, is aptly named ‘world’s end’.

“Buy less, choose well, make it last” (Vivienne Westwood) is a mantra the company orbits around, from runways with the theme of overconsumption’s environmental impact, such as AW 19/20, to showing runways digitally, performing speeches in shop windows and actively supporting protests, such as climate revolution, (to name a few) even since Westwood's husband, Andreas Kronthaler, took over the brand in 2016 for Vivienne to pursue her activism further. The company boasts producing “quality products that respect both people and planet” (Vivienne Westwood) and work hard to keep products to a high standard, so garments are not disposable but are treasured collectables. An intriguing strategy is the use of a ‘one size fits all approach’ for garments, such as their slogan tees. Not only does this create unisex availability and decrease the number of garment variations being produced, but also limits factory time and the labour intensity of the manufacturing – decreasing the carbon footprint and machine time of the t shirts.

More recently, a specific collection highlighting these efforts is the limited edition, cat printed corsets. Designed to be a one-off collectable item that is kept long term by the customer and their family. A limited number of each shade has been manufactured, including the iconic cat motif on a staple corset shape that have both been staple features across Westwood's collections for years, therefore making this garment “a coveted staple for the Westwood woman who wants to ‘Buy Less, Choose Well and Make It Last’.” (Vivienne Westwood, 2021). Extreme care has been taken to ensure limited fabric wastage whilst cutting, the use and implementation of high-quality boing and fused seams, in a completely London based supply chain, maintaining a low carbon footprint, and steering away from mass production.

Overall, we must bear in mind that fashion companies are not going to stop producing product. However, consideration of the issue of overconsumption and its environmental impact should be intertwined into business values and have an impact on ranges, quality and pricing – if fashion is going to continue to live, and not die young.

Freya Fowler