British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood's personal wardrobe will be auctioned in London in aid of causes close to the late "Queen of Punk's" heart.
The sale at Christie's includes more than 250 garments and accessories, most of which were worn on the catwalk before being worn by the designer.
The collection features some of the most iconic styles, including corsets, tartans, floaty taffeta dresses, heels and politically charged t-shirts.
The online sale starts tomorrow, June 15th, and runs through June 28th, with the indoor sale set for June 25th.
Among the auction items are playing cards designed to draw attention to issues such as global warming, social inequality and human rights.
10 of them have been enlarged and signed by the designer, who died in 2022 at the age of 81, to raise funds for Greenpeace.
Proceeds from the sale will also go to associations including Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders and the designer's foundation, which works with non-governmental organizations to "create a better society and stop climate change".
Head of catalog and collection coordinator Clementine Swallow told AFP that "Vivien's playing cards" were the catalyst for a wider auction.
Although Vivienne Westwood "knew she wouldn't be able to see the project", "she wanted her personal wardrobe to be sold to benefit other charities that were important to her", she added.
The designer's widower, 58-year-old Andreas Kronthaler, was closely involved. "He personally assembled all the batches into outfits that she would wear," said Clementine Swallow.
"These were the objects she had chosen from the thousands of things she had designed over 40 years," she says, "these were the things she considered the quintessence of her designs."
The collection includes a number of key objects that illustrate the cultural impact of Vivienne Westwood and the wide range of influences she projected over the four decades of her career.
The earliest item was a skirt and jacket set from the Fall-Winter 1983 "Witches at the World's End" collection, when Vivienne Westwood was still working with her first husband and Sex Pistols manager, Malcolm McLaren.
According to Clementine Swallow, the designer was influenced by British history, but gave classic designs a provocative twist, recalling a taffeta ball gown with "slave-style black wraps."
Many of the clothes contain political motifs and slogans that reflect her concern for social justice.
"A big part of Vivienne's personality is activism," "she's really one of those designers who has taken her clothes and used them as a megaphone to express her political ideas and opinions," according to the catalog manager.
Other selected items include a pink tartan pattern by Vivienne Westwood and a blue jacket similar to the one worn by Naomi Campbell when she collapsed on the catwalk in 1993 wearing 30cm heels.
There are also early examples of the designer's elastic corsets, which highlight her habit of combining comfort and beauty.
Sustainability and ethical fashion are also key themes.
Perhaps the most expensive item is a hand-stitched dress with intricate beading and gold panels, created in collaboration with artisans in Kenya.
All materials used to display the items are recycled or recyclable, including cardboard signs and plywood stands.
"It was a great lesson for us," says Clementine Swallow, and proves that "you can make exhibitions that can be recycled."
The exhibits are valued at between £200 and £7,000, but are expected to fetch much higher.
Museums and other institutions are expected to be among the participants in the auction, but the manager of the catalog emphasizes that the designer "loves the idea of (her clothes) being worn by real people", "the idea of them having another life is wonderful". | BGNES