Punk, Poet, Prophet and high Priestess of fashion. More than a fashion designer, Dame Vivienne Westwood was a pioneer of activism, feminism and fashion. Always ahead of the Zeitgeist, Dame Vivienne was a trailblazer as a woman, designer and campaigner for environmental and societal causes. From the launch of SEX on the King’s Road in 1974, a fashion boutique at the Punk movement’s epicentre, to the launch of her eponymous fashion label and the creation of many seminal fashion moments, Dame Vivienne made an indelible mark on British culture.
On the occasion of Dame Vivienne’s birthday, Christie’s unveiled Vivienne Westwood: The Personal Collection, an exhibition featuring clothes, shoes and accessories from the late designer and activist’s wardrobe which will be auctioned off for charity at a live auction on 25th June, and an online sale running alongside from 14th to 28th June. The sale will raise funds for the causes Vivienne supported throughout her life, with proceeds going to support The Vivienne Foundation, Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières and Greenpeace.
Vivienne Westwood: The Personal Collection comprises the personal wardrobe of the late fashion designer and includes some of the most important iconic looks that she created and wore during the last four decades of her life. The wardrobe, which only contains garments, shoes and jewellery by Dame Vivienne Westwood’s fashion house, is recognised as historically and culturally significant — the earliest piece coming from the Witches collection for autumn/winter 1983/84. The live auction on 25 June will also include THE BIG PICTURE – Vivienne’s Playing Cards: Collect the cards. Connect the cards. In 2017, Dame Vivienne designed a pack of playing cards as A Strategy 2 Save the World — a blueprint for the preservation of the planet, infused with her rallying cry, ‘Collect the cards. Connect the cards.’
The prints poignantly shed light on pressing issues facing humankind, such as climate change, social inequality and human rights — concerns that remained at the forefront of Dame Vivienne’s mind. Shortly before she died, she selected ten of her most powerful graphics to be enlarged and set about signing the precious large-scale ‘cards’ on which these designs would be printed posthumously. A project by The Vivienne Foundation, proceeds from the sale of the portfolio will benefit Greenpeace, according to her wishes. A deluxe edition of 10 portfolios will be auctioned off for charity at Christie’s on 25 June, with an estimate of £30,000-50,000. Energetic and impactful until the end of her life, one of Dame Vivienne’s final act was to sign 100 sheets of Hahnemühle Museum Etching paper, with the wish that 10 of the most important graphics designed to highlight her messages as an activist would be printed onto these precious large-scale autographed ‘cards’ after her death.
The Vivienne Foundation: “Throughout her lifetime, Vivienne used her voice to lead a relentless fight for justice. Continuously highlighting the corruption in the world and trying her best to make the world a better place. It was Vivienne’s ambition prior to her death to raise a significant amount of money for Greenpeace to help them protect our rainforests and oceans and save the planet from climate change. Vivienne felt passionately driven to act when she learned about the Democratic Republic of Congo wanting to open up its precious rainforests for oil exploration and development. The Vivienne Foundation would like to express its thanks to John Sauven, Jeff Banks and all involved in this project for their work helping to realise Vivienne’s wishes. The Vivienne Foundation as the owner and custodian of Vivienne’s art work and copyrights is proud to be able to support such a historic collaboration between The Vivienne Foundation, Greenpeace and Christie’s.”
Dame Vivienne Westwood is recognised as one of the most important British fashion designers of all time and, by many, as the most iconic fashion designer of the last quarter of the 20th century. Westwood used her influence to address some of the gravest issues facing humanity today. She established The Vivienne Foundation to partner with NGOs with similar aims: ‘to create a better society and halt climate change’.
John Sauven, former executive director, Greenpeace UK: “Towards the end of 2022, I talked to Vivienne about how the works of art for her pack of playing cards, representing the pressing problems of our world with the mantra ‘Collect the cards. Connect the cards’, could be auctioned to fund the causes she supported. Vivienne was well known as a rebel for most of her life but rarely without a cause. For Vivienne, activism was her life. She didn’t compartmentalise it. Fashion here, campaigning there. In fact, she always said everything is connected. Fashion. Art. Education. Activism. And she managed to fuse it all together in extraordinary ways. Vivienne has left us the playing cards, an important work of art, that enables her ideas to live on in all of us.”
Murray Macaulay, Head of Prints and Multiples Europe, Christie’s: “Printmaking and environmental activism has a rich history. Vivienne Westwood’s THE BIG PICTURE – Vivienne’s Playing Cards is the late, great designer’s clarion cry for urgent action. Juxtaposing slogans with a cut and paste aesthetic, and characteristic wit, Vivienne’s Playing Cards have been beautifully translated into print from the original digital files by Red Breast Editions. In the tradition of the polemic of print, it is a powerful provocation to collectively step up to the challenges we face”.
A giant pink neon Vivienne Westwood sign graces the front of Christie’s King Street headquarters, and a museum-quality exhibition of the designer’s personal collection of clothes, shoes and accessories is on display in the auction rooms and open to the public. Watch a reel of the private view here .
Vivienne Westwood: The Personal Collection is on display at Christie’s ahead of a live auction on 25th June, with an online auction running from today until 28th June.
