The late Dame Vivienne Westwood’s personal wardrobe is today open for the public to view, in the run up to a 200+ lot sale at auction house Christie's.
After a private view on Thursday evening hosted by Andreas Kronthaler, Westwood’s husband and Creative Director of Vivienne Westwood, the fashion designer’s gowns, jewels, suits, shoes, and tights are being exhibited ahead of an historic auction. Money made will be donated to a host of charities Westwood supported, including The Vivienne Foundation, Amnesty International and Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), alongside the sale of Vivienne’s signed ‘Playing Cards’, a project by The Vivienne Foundation estimated to make £30,000 to £50,000, which will go towards Greenpeace.
“It’s very urgent for now to be able to raise that money for these causes — especially Médecins Sans Frontières, in the midst of so many things in the world,” Kronthaler told the Standard during the opening, where he was joined by Bianca Jagger, Pattie Boyd, Daniel Lismore, and Jeff Banks, the director of Vivienne Westwood Ltd.
“I am very happy with what we are doing here, I’ve never done anything so worthwhile,” he continued. “She has done many very worthwhile things, I have never really. She would be excited about this build up, and the results.”
Garments going under the hammer for Vivienne Westwood: The Personal Collection, which will be sold in two parts (during a live auction, on June 25, and online sale, which runs 14 – 28 June) date back to the AW83 Witches collection. Key pieces include a corseted, taffeta gown from AW98, estimate £5,000 to £8,000; a gold, nude illusion embellished dress from AW11, estimate £7,000 to £10,000 and a striking, emerald green, pointed shoulder suit from AW95, estimated at £,3000 to £5,000. Other notable looks include the polka dot dress Westwood wore to receive her DBE in 2006 (£3,000 to £5,000), as well as important accessories including her SEX choker necklace (£1,500 to £2,500), heaps of pearls, and a selection of well-worn high heels.
Some have questioned why these pieces have not been archived, or been exhibited at a museum. Kronthaler says: “They should find a new home, they were her personal things. Of course they are fashion things, but they are things worn on a daily basis. Some were worn a lot, some worn thousands of times for 20 or more years. And some were forgotten because they were just piling up.”
He continues: “We had a room where all the clothes were. She never cared about clothes, she doesn’t care about them. It was me who brought the clothes home and said you have to wear this, and she would.”
As for a retrospective exhibition, he says: “You can do another thing later on. I am so happy because this [auction] is indirectly doing something.”
Notable in their absence from Thursday’s celebration of the sale was Westwood’s surviving family, including her sons Ben Westwood and Joseph Corré, and her beloved granddaughter Cora Corré, who attended a series of alternative events in London instead.
Vivienne Westwood: The Personal Collection is on view until 28 June 2024 at Christie's in London, 8 King Street, St. James's, SW1, christies.com
Inside the Private View of Vivienne Westwood: The Personal Collection
