Vivienne Westwood says Be Specific at Milan Menswear AW16

January 24, 2016

Vivienne Westwood says Be Specific at Milan Menswear AW16

Before we begin, I would like to say I'm sorry for taking quite some time uploading these blog posts, but I am trying my hardest to get as much content done as possible and to a good standard as well. They are coming, just please be patient with me. Vivienne Westwood continued her mission on making the world, our world a better place for us all to live in, in a collection entitled "Be Specific." In a video featured on the House's YouTube channel (below), Vivienne Westwood herself states the following: "Be Specific, save Venice, stop the cruise ships. Be Specific, save the rainforest, cool earth. Be Specific, save the ocean, stop the subsidiary to industrial fishing." As always with a Westwood menswear collection, an underlying political statement is to made and heard - presenting a new collection of clothing and accessories is only part of the agenda. The invitation was classic Westwood, a hand-written (but photocopied) note from the designer. "Who do our politicians think they are?" it read, "Who gives them the right to wreck the earth?" Westwood's fury even went as far to describe the government and politicians as "criminals" which was palpable; as was her passion to protect the environment.

Vivienne Westwood is one of only few designers that show during Milan Men's Fashion Week that clothes actually resonate with me on a deeper level. Plus, they're clothes I actually want to wear. As with the past couple of Westwood menswear collections, there has definitely been a sort of androgynous vibe present, many pieces being not only inspired by womenswear but what many would call womenswear. In the Vogue Runway review by Luke Leitch he mentions that his conversation with Andreas Kronthaler (husband, co-designer and creative director) was cut short because he had to assist a "strapping model named Fabio into a silver lamé dress." Some male models even wore 4-inch creepers and like I said, some wore dresses - draped and asymmetric - while some other wore tights. It blurred the lines between gender and questioned the means of normality in fashion, and as something thats buzzing around many fashion insiders' minds, why can't men wear dresses? And in a slightly tongue-in-cheek twist, a number of models wore either a silver or gold rock-hard penis around their necks. It was a necklace of course.