Friday 16 April 2010

Vivienne Westwood

Time for another little rant this time about Vivienne Westwood, I know, how random.
So, over a year ago I went to this talk held in the V&A about climate change, global warming etc. Westwood along with a bunch of people from Green Peace, some scientists etc were sitting around a table and they began discussing global warming, issues with our consumerism etc.
And I just sat there becoming more and more annoyed and pretty infuriated. I mean don't get me wrong...Westwood is awesome...she really changed the course of British fashion and she is an eccentric, interesting character if there ever was one. But for a person who comes out with at least four different collections each year including accessories, shoes, perfumes etc to preach about the way we all consume too much and that we are heating up the world and will all die soon as a result just seems ridiculous.

She was telling us to never wash our clothes (she kept banging on about how she doesn't wash her bras at all...nice) and how we don't need a lot of clothes at all...we could basically take a dirty clothes rag and with a lot of imagination we could create a hundred different outfits with it which would not only be great for the environment but would make us unique and crafty individuals on top of it.
How can a big player of an industry which is the epitome of consumerism who is mass producing clothes and accessories and using Pamela Anderson as the face of their campaign tell us to not buy new clothes and to not ever wash the little possessions we have? She lives off our consumerism.

I felt that everyone at the talk was just lapping up what Westwood was saying...they weren't there to be enlightened about global warming...it was a chance to spot a celebrity and my presumption became apparent when people rushed over to her asking for auto-and-photographs once the talk was over.

Anyway, so I was super annoyed with it then and my annoyance got rekindled when I talked to a friend who knows people that work in the Westwood design studio. It is interesting to know that the studio throws away garments that have the tiniest fault on them..so a shoe with a crookedly sewn on buckle. I mean, yes with the prices that these things are going at you can't sell anything with flaws but to throw these things out rather than giving them to your employees?? And in the very same studio there are signs in the toilets saying: "Do you really have to flush?" and "Do you need to use that much toilet paper?"
Talk about contradictions. So, really next time Westwood gets all preachy on people for using their washing machines and wiping their asses with toilet paper she should consider re-using her flawed items that are being so carelessy thrown out at her studio or, better yet, maybe she shouldn't be producing an insane amount of clothes, shoes, sunglasses, bags and perfume twice a year.

2 comments:

  1. I regard Vivienne Westwood as the epitome of green hypocrisy. While I love her designs and I respect her contribution to not just the British fashion industry but the whole Fashion Industry, I have to say her banging on about climate change and her suggestions regarding how we should recycle clothes never ceases to surprise me.

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