Vivienne Westwood [Hardcover]

Claire Wilcox (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 2004

Vivienne Westwood is a global fashion icon whose career has spanned three decades. This book, published to accompany the first retrospective of her work, at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, highlights one woman's creative journey from the early days of punk to the establishment of her own fashion house.

Westwood has been an influence on the worlds of art, music, and fashion since the early 1970s. One of the first designers to create subversive fashion-clothes that disseminated political messages-she later found inspiration in history and literature, producing clothes that are witty, original, and technically accomplished.

The book's 200 photographs-a mix of ad campaigns, fashion shoots, catwalk shots, and archival images, many rarely seen or long forgotten-chart the evolution of Westwood's work from outfits worn by the Sex Pistols to more recent creations for Sarah Jessica Parker, Cameron Diaz, and artist Tracy Emin. The pictures, selected by Westwood herself, together with Claire Wilcox's perceptive text, show why this fascinating designer has a cult following around the world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'A delight for any followers of fashion' The Daily Express. 'This fabulous book serves as an informative and colourful look at the hugely influential designer's life and work' OK! 'A fascinating study of Vivienne's illustrious career' Hello! ***** (Westwood) truly is the Grand Dame of British fashion. And this book is a fitting celebration of that' Heat. '***** Drooling matter for all fashionistas' New Woman. 'Lavish ... colour-drenched, mirror-glossy, and snapped by the likes of Mario Testino and Annie Leibovitz' You Magazine, Mail on Sunday. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Claire Wilcox is a leading expert in contemporary fashion. She is the curator of the exhibition that this book accompanies. She is also the author of Radical Fashion and The Art and Craft of Gianni Versace.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 228 pages
• Publisher: Victoria & Albert Museum (March 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810966220
• ISBN-13: 978-0810966222
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 9.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,514,083 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you didn't catch the museum show, this is the next best thing, January 20, 2008

By 

R. Young "Mensch-in-training" (East Bay, CA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vivienne Westwood (Va) (Paperback)

We caught the Vivienne Westwood retrospective traveling show at the De Young Museum in San Francisco, and were blown away by the inventive, fun, nutty clothes this woman produced. This book serves as a exhibition catalog, although many of the pieces in the show are not in the book, and nothing matches seeing the wild shoes, hats, dresses and frocks in person. The book design is a minor annoyance, as it can be a little hard to find the garment pictured, who was wearing it, or when it was created. And I think frankly the girl has her best work behind her, but the glory of it cannot be exaggerated, or, to put it another way, her exaggerations were truly glorious. Over The Top in the very best way.

Thoreau would no doubt disapprove....

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Viva Vivienne!, May 3, 2009

By 

Jonathan Hesser "retropanther" (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Vivienne Westwood (Va) (Paperback)

What can I say about a legend? This book is wonderful. It is chalk full of cool color photographs of each of Vivienne Westwood's collections. I am one of the biggest fans of Vivienne Westwood and this book is a gem!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Westwood archive book, January 10, 2011

By 

coutureguy - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vivienne Westwood (Va) (Paperback)

This book is very well done with a nice timeless of Ms. Westwood's creations. There are a lot of photos and good information on the collections. Well written. My only objection is that it tends to be a bit "Artsy" so a lot of the photos tend not to show the explicit details of the garments that one wants to see due to shadowing, darkness, blurring for effect, etc. But overall, a wonderful resource!