Vivienne Westwood Gives A Shout Out To Julian Assange


The inimitable grand dame of British punk, septuagenarian designer and priestess of plaid, Vivienne Westwood, courted controversy in her usual fashion (ha ha) at her Spring Summer 2013 show overnight at London Fashion Week by handing out to front row guests pro-Julian Assange t-shirts bearing her image and the slogan “I’m Julian Assange.” Here’s one on model Jade Parfitt:

Staged at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office near Whitehall, the always politically charged Westwood made a dual statement about Assange’s current legal woes (he’s still facing extradition to Sweden on charges of rape) while also using her signature finale appearance to drive home her favourite message of ‘Climate Revolution.’

Looking every bit the climate change warrior, Westwood stepped out after a hyper-coloured collection of ma’amish quintessential British looks that felt – as the designer looked – like an homage to Galliano. These are the kind of throwback clothes you could imagine Mona or Jane Sterling wearig while live-tweeting an acid trip, perhaps.

It’s not the first time Westwood has publicly aired support for Assange. The flame-haired Dame issued a public statement, from which the t-shirt slogan was derived (“We are all Julian Assange“), last month when the Wikileaks founder was holed up in a sunless room at the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he remains to this day and looks likely to remain for some time; working as always on developing the foundations for a solid base tan in front of his sunlamp, with this the desired effect:

Killer Queen:

HRH:

Aus mod Jemma Baines:

Megan Draperesque:

Chanel muse and buzz-cut enthusiast, Alice Dellal:

Kimbra? That you gurl?

Looks better in short shorts than you or I ever will:

If you’re a fan of Westwood’s punk couture, next year’s Sydney Festival will feature a production of Semele Walk, a show that combines the 1744 Georg Friedrich Händel opera Semele, Berlin’s chamber music ensemble, Kaleidoskop, and Vivienne Westwood’s designs. You can get some more info on that here.

Photos by Gareth Cattermole for Getty Images Entertainment

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