Vivienne Westwood @ Palazzo Reale - Milan

British designer Vivienne Westwood's first official collection was in 1981, during London's Fashion week. Since then her collections have been the fountain of inspiration for countless other designers, by adapting her original punk/new romantic/sartorial ideas into every day fashions. Many people may credit Gaultier as the underwear-as-outerwear originator but Westwood had lime-green satin bras worn over white T-shirts in her fashion shows all the way back to her earlier collections. Along Malcolm McLaren, she invented the punk rock look, famously dressing the Sex Pistols in the late 70's. Nowadays she keeps an eye in tradition, exploring Saville Row, Scottish tartan country plaids & Victorian patterns, but unafraid of the frayed hems and torn seams of her punk past.

Starts today at Palazzo Reale in Milan, Queen Viv's retrospective spanning over 30 years of her influential fashion career. Launched in the 2004 at the London Victoria & Albert Museum, the exhibition is the largest display the museum ever dedicated to a British designer. The Retrospective features designs selected from both the V&A’s collections and Vivienne Westwood’s personal archive. The Palazzo Reale in Milan is the only Italian venue and is the climax of a tour that in four years has visited nine European, Asian, American and Pacific venues. The work encompasses styles from the street fashion of the 70’s to grand ball gowns influenced by historical art and dresses, to the more recent exploration of pattern-cutting techniques and socio-political critic.Film and catwalk footage on Vivienne Westwood’s life and career will be shown throughout the exhibition.

From September 26 2007 to January 20 2008. Via Style.It