Vivienne Westwood documentaire
What i noticed in her documantaire was how calm she is, but how big her words really are. With her fashion she's all about story telling and advertising real world problems.
What stuck to me is how she also did different work before this like teaching and how she really started from 0. And she just wanted to make art to begin with.
She used to work in a store where she would sell her designs. Whenever the outlook of the store changed the aesthetic of her designs also changed. It keeps it interesting for consumers as well i can imagine.
There was a quote in the docu mentioning: 'From chaos we can create'. I resonate with this. Go against the normal and don't do how people expect to do your stuff. Be independent. Find like minded people.
In the docu you also see when she became a bigger well known designer, she liked her stuff less because it became more comercial.
Another quote that stuck with me was: 'Clothes make you face the world in a spectacular way'.
I like the fact that you never know what to expect with her designs and that she dresses accordingly to every fashionshow. Her way of expression is also a way i feel very connected with.
Sustainability and Vivienne
A phrase from Vivienne: Buy less, choose well & make it last. This relates to shopping habits and the way these days fashion is consumed. This phrase has come to represent a growing movement. Clothes should cost an awful lot more. Take time to research our purchases and evaluate what we really need. Take care of your clothes and cherish them forever.
Vivienne said she took all her ideas from history and culture. “ Learn from the people that went before you” <- Let culture fuel your creativity.
She’s known for not following what other did and focussing on what inspired her. By this she set some trend.
Her activism was part of her business. She was an advocate for human rights and climate change. She was one of the first ones to talk about sustainability. She was really motivated in changing the world for a better environment.
Vivienne explained that if economy doesn’t equal sustainability we have no future. She organized protests, petitions and influenced the government. She had on petition circling around to adopt legislation to prohibit, prevent and pre-empt ecocide. This was an effort to make companies and individuals personally liable for environmental destruction.
Vivienne not only educated her costumers but also attracted people through her collections which then led us to learn from her. She travelled with Greenpeace to the arctic to inspire young people to engage with the environment.
‘ I did feel I had to be like a knight to stop people doing terrible things to each other. And I think that that’s had something to do with my fashion as well. It’s always got to be that. You know you’ve got to cut a figure and be prepared fraction and engagement with things.
