Vivienne Westwood Red Label Fall 2011 Ready-to-Wear Collection on Style.com: Runway Review

Vivienne Westwood Red Label

LONDON, February 20, 2011

By Maya Singer

Vivienne Westwood staged her Red Label show tonight at London's Royal Courts of Justice, a venue that at first blush seemed an ill fit. What on earth was England's grand dame of helter-skelter fashion doing in George Street's august Victorian Gothic gallery, which operates by day as the lobby for actual courts of law? Then, as the models began strutting down the catwalk clad in this season's grab bag of Red Label looks, the location started to make a kind of wacky sense. The Royal Courts are where civil suits are heard, and if you want to observe the crazy variety of human life in London, which was the overarching theme of Westwood's collection, the courts where people go to sue their neighbors and get divorced is probably as good a place as any.

Anyway, the clothes. This was a more disciplined collection than the one Westwood showed last season, which isn't saying all that much. The theme of Britishness—in particular the eclectic Britishness to be observed around Portobello Market on an average Saturday—gave Westwood an easy through-line for her ideas. Lots of plaid and pinstripe, a fair amount of riding-habit velvet, some chunky marled knits, plus garments inspired by bankers' shirting and prep-school uniforms: presto, the human comedy, West London style. Sprinkle with confetti bursts of neon feathers to taste.

There were, as usual, too many of Westwood's overworked garments here, like a weirdly bunched button-down minidress in broadcloth blue, with ungainly pleating at the shoulder. Westwood's big eccentricities, like those confetti feathers, are winning; her little ones often feel like contrivances. That said, there were a number of clever, wearable garments: Westwood came up with a great abstract print for her silk taffetas this season, which she twisted and tailored into a bunch of fine cocktail looks, and her awkwardly cut suits in velvet and check had a nice dandyish feel. She also sent out one of this season's really good pieces of outerwear: a simple wool coat set askew, as though someone had buttoned it the wrong way and decided she liked the rakish look. There was a lot to like, in fact, if you were willing to dig for it. In that way, the collection really did feel like a day at Portobello.

See all from Vivienne Westwood Red Label › Timeline

A.F. Vandevorst	Acne	ADAM
A Détacher	Akris	Alberta Ferretti
Albino	Alexander McQueen	Alexander Wang
Alexandre Herchcovitch	Alexis Mabille	Alice + Olivia
Altuzarra	Andrew Gn	Anna Sui
Ann Demeulemeester	Anne Valérie Hash	Ann-Sofie Back Atelje
Anthony Vaccarello	Antonio Berardi	Antonio Marras
Aquascutum	Aquilano.Rimondi	Araks
Azzaro

Badgley Mischka	Balenciaga	Bally
Balmain	Banana Republic	Band of Outsiders
Barbara Bui	Barbara Tfank	Basso & Brooke
BCBG Max Azria	Behnaz Sarafpour	Bensoni
Betsey Johnson	Betty Jackson	Bibhu Mohapatra
Bill Blass	Blumarine	Bodkin
Bottega Veneta	Brioni	Burberry Prorsum

Cacharel	Calvin Klein Collection	Carlos Miele
Carolina Herrera	Carven	Celine
Central Saint Martins	Chado Ralph Rucci	Chadwick Bell
Chalayan	Chanel	Charles Anastase
Charlotte Ronson	Chloé	Chris Benz
Christian Cota	Christian Dior	Christian Siriano
Christophe Lemaire	Christopher Kane	Christopher Raeburn
Clements Ribeiro	Collette Dinnigan	Comme des Garçons
Commuun	Costello Tagliapietra	Costume National
Creatures of the Wind	Cushnie et Ochs	Custo Barcelona
Cynthia Rowley	Cynthia Steffe

D&G	Damir Doma	Danielle Scutt
Daryl K	David Koma	Dax Gabler
Dennis Basso	Derek Lam	Diane von Furstenberg
Diesel Black Gold	DKNY	Dolce & Gabbana
Donna Karan	Doo.Ri	Douglas Hannant
Dries Van Noten	Dsquared²	Duro Olowu

Edun	Elie Saab	Elie Tahari
Elise Øverland	Emanuel Ungaro	Emilio de la Morena
Emilio Pucci	Emporio Armani	Erdem
Erin Fetherston	Etro