Vivienne Westwood: Transforming Tradition into Trend

Aptly named ‘queen of punk’, Vivienne Westwood first began experimenting with the kilt in the late 1970s, reshaping its traditional Scottish roots into a daring fashion statement. Pairing up with artist Malcolm McLaren, the duo created the punk label Seditionaries, where models wore bondage suits draped in bold kilts. Vivienne Westwood had a deep fascination with Scottish folklore, and so the clothing was meant to exhibit a reinterpretation of “the warrior of the battle of Culloden” as an “urban guerrilla”, a blend of historic and modern rebellion.

Seditionnaries 1970s

                                                         

Prior to 1970, punk fashion didn’t exist. The collaboration of Westwood and McLaren began a stylistic revolution of growing the punk look. The edgy style possessed seductive yet rebellious features; strappy bondage, chains, leather, frayed fabric and tartan. Westwood described her designs as ‘romantic’, ‘primitive’ and ‘tribal’ and in doing so, reintroduced the kilt in a new light. What was once a token of Scottish masculinity was now a high-fashion sex symbol. Suddenly, tartan was cool, edgy, and celebrated by the young and daring. 

What strengthened the connection between Scotland and the punk revolution was the styling of the infamous English punk rock band, Sex Pistols. Westwood dressed the band in tartan. The styling was the perfect fit for a group whose lyrics openly attacked the UK establishment and rebelled against anarchy - not so different to the beliefs of the rebellious tartan-wearing Jacobites. 

John Lydon, Sex Pistols vocalist

While tartan thrived in Westwood’s punk couture, tweed was absent. The Hebrides was a long way from the punk world Westwood had created. She was introduced to Harris Tweed in 1984, when she (along with other designers) visited a loom shed belonging to weaver Ian Angus Mackenzie. Westwood, like many others, was captivated by the colours of Harris Tweed - “so intense, they’re like jewels”. In 1988 we saw Fair Isle sweaters, Harris Tweed tailoring and numerous kilts and tartan suits strutting the catwalk. In 1993, she worked with weavers Lochcarron of Scotland to create her own tartan, the MacAndreas, for the iconic Anglomania collection. The pattern still features in many of the Vivienne Westwood collections and has been added to the Scottish Register of Tartans. 

Vivienne Westwood Anglomania 1993 Fall Collection

The success of the Westwood-Harris Tweed partnership has helped bury the fact that the well-known Vivienne Westwood logo blatantly copied the Harris Tweed Orb logo. At the time it was unlikely that any legal action taken by Harris Tweed would be successful. Whilst this was not well received by many in the Harris Tweed Industry, The Harris Tweed Association credits the collaboration for boosting the local industry and feels the Vivienne Westwood logo ‘acknowledged her connections with and affection for our cherished cloth’.