Vivienne Westwood debuted her SS22 show inspired by her SS98 show titled ‘Tied To The Mast’, the show featured nautical prints, sailor knots & shipwrecked models. Has Westwood sank or swam ? Read to find out.

Vivienne Westwood as always quintessentially British. Her use of umbrellas in a spring summer show for a start, a very fun nod to typical British weather. In this show however, Westwood explored a new aspect of British fashion: Sportswear. It was my favourite part of the collection.

Westwood’s silk tracksuit bottoms (look 27) show a sleek juxtaposition, a formal material and a casual cut. It was a very well executed way of putting Westwood’s signature on a new aesthetic. It’s also seen in look 9 – a hoodie shirt hybrid layered under a vest, I love the way the neck of the hood imitates a collar and the traditional shirt cuffs it’s such a fresh way to look at street wear. I wish the sportswear was the main focus of the collection particularly at a time when lounge/sports wear is everywhere.

Westwood is looking into the ‘It-shoe’ the heavyweight cousin of the ‘It-bag‘ these shoes have the power to entirely resurrect fashion houses, from Alexander McQueens chunky trainers to a Versace’s brilliant AW21 Medusa platforms having a covetable shoe is a great way for designers to generate a huge amount of profit and buzz to a brand. Westwood threw her hat into the ring and the perfect woman to do it – her gillie platforms that toppled Naomi are already a cultural icon.

Her exaggerated ‘rocking horse’ ballet shoe flat-forms, named for their upturned toe, give a fresh take on the ballet pump something I thought was impossible. it’s out-there in a very sophisticated way. Her extreme peep toe platforms (you can’t miss them there on nearly every model) are also great and totally remind me of ‘Bratz’ doll shoes the towering chunky platform is very in atm and I hope it’s here to stay i love them and I’m not going to lie it’s partly cuz there so much more comfortable than stilettos.

Westwood took inspiration from her SS98 show ‘tied to the mast’ the original show featuring pirates and corsets and ballgowns here it’s been incredibly toned down. Archival prints like the squiggle print and the sailor knot were seen throughout both collections and there were nautical references: button front trousers seen in look 6 and 12 mimicking naval uniforms and floaty pirate corset shirts.

However, most of the nautical references came from the set, hair and makeup design to attempt to bring the drama back that’s been lost. This collection looks far too similar to her last few collections. We look to Westwood to be shocked she should be making a statement I feel the collection was far too commercial and didn’t have a strong sense of direction.

Westwood has a lot of potential to come back in a big way but only if she stops trying to be so sellable the customer needs something to be inspired by they need to be excited they don’t need another draped skirt suit. there was a lot I liked about the collection she just needs to ‘amp it up’ and maybe mix her sellable pieces with some of the shocking ones to bring back some of that drama and fun and find a clearer message and direction to her collections.

My fave looks and details

To end on a high here are my favourite looks and details from the collection with my notes on them.