The late, great Vivienne Westwood is remembered for many things: her ever-exciting shop on the King’s Road; consolidating punk fashion; flashing paps while receiving her OBE; and, in her later years, her relentless fight for climate and social justice.
But when it comes to the most recognisable garments in British designer’s repertoire, the corset is the item most central to her brand’s DNA. Corsets have been a Westwood staple since she first showed them in 1987, as she stepped away from the punks and pirates that had defined the earlier years, and began to play with parodies of the upper echelons. They are exemplary of the historical references that weaved through her collections. They are also the result of hours spent studying the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Corsets remain a jewel of the red carpet today.
