Ensemble thumbnail 1
Ensemble thumbnail 2
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images
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Fashion, Room 40

Ensemble

1982 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

For well over three decades Vivienne Westwood, along with her one-time partner Malcolm McLaren, has been at the centre of British fashion and one of its most inventive and influential designers. Westwood’s career in fashion was galvanised by McLaren and together they launched memorable fashion moments, including Punk in the early 1970s and later their Pirates collection. McLaren and Westwood conducted a design relationship between 1971 and 1983. In 1990 and again in 1991 Vivienne Westwood was named British Designer of the Year; she has also received an OBE.

Westwood’s unique mix of practicality and inventiveness, her preoccupation with silhouette and the manner in which she manipulates fabrics result in dynamic fashion. Westwood herself once said, 'You have a much better life if you wear impressive clothes.’

This ensemble is from Westwood and McLaren’s ‘Buffalo’ collection (also called ‘Nostalgia of Mud’). Many of the garments in the collection featured asymmetrical cuts and rough materials such as sheepskin and horn details. Full skirts, such as this example, were made of patchily-stained, fragile wadding, and were inspired by a picture of dancing Peruvian women (Wilcox, C., 'Vivienne Westwood', V & A Publications, 2004, p. 18).


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Top
  • Skirt
Materials and techniques
Brief description
Woman's ensemble, f, green and pink cotton top and rose and brown dacron and cotton skirt,designed by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood, Britain, 'Buffalo' collection, s/s 1982.
Physical description
Ensemble of pink and green cotton hooded top with printed figures in costume and rose / brown Dacron layered skirt.
Credit line
Purchased with Art Fund support and assistance from the Friends of the V&A, the Elsbeth Evans Trust, and the Dorothy Hughes Bequest
Production
'Buffalo' collection (spring / summer)
Summary
For well over three decades Vivienne Westwood, along with her one-time partner Malcolm McLaren, has been at the centre of British fashion and one of its most inventive and influential designers. Westwood’s career in fashion was galvanised by McLaren and together they launched memorable fashion moments, including Punk in the early 1970s and later their Pirates collection. McLaren and Westwood conducted a design relationship between 1971 and 1983. In 1990 and again in 1991 Vivienne Westwood was named British Designer of the Year; she has also received an OBE.

Westwood’s unique mix of practicality and inventiveness, her preoccupation with silhouette and the manner in which she manipulates fabrics result in dynamic fashion. Westwood herself once said, 'You have a much better life if you wear impressive clothes.’

This ensemble is from Westwood and McLaren’s ‘Buffalo’ collection (also called ‘Nostalgia of Mud’). Many of the garments in the collection featured asymmetrical cuts and rough materials such as sheepskin and horn details. Full skirts, such as this example, were made of patchily-stained, fragile wadding, and were inspired by a picture of dancing Peruvian women (Wilcox, C., 'Vivienne Westwood', V & A Publications, 2004, p. 18).
Collection
Accession number
T.139:1&2-2002

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Record createdOctober 30, 2002
Record URL
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