Sam Smith wore not one, but two outfits on the runway for Vivienne Westwood’s Paris Fashion Week show.
The Unholy singer’s dual ensembles summed up the aesthetic for creative director Andreas Kronthaler’s new experimental collection.
The first outfit centred around deconstructed tartan: Smith wore short shorts and a scarf-inspired jacket, along with vertiginous platform boots and a hat – all in different styles of tartan. The look was completed with a green jumper, argyle socks and a wooden walking stick.
Tartan has long been a centre of the Vivienne Westwood brand, since the eponymous designer came to prominence with her punk, countercultural designs in the 1970s.
Dame Vivienne died in December 2022, with her husband, Austrian designer Kronthaler, taking full creative control of the brand.
The collection was littered with plenty of classic Westwood references, such as the extremely high platform shoes that Smith and many of the models wore.
In the past, models have fallen over on the runway wearing these vertiginous shoes – most famously when Naomi Campbell took a tumble in the early nineties.
Smith’s second look had more of a Gothic feel: a floor-length gown with a cut-out pattern, worn with a halterneck top underneath and a funereal black hat.
And Smith wasn’t the only recognisable face on the runway. They were also joined by Lila Moss, supermodel Kate’s daughter.
She wore a textured light blue dress which appeared to have a pair of gloves and hood built in, as well as a studded black bustier over the top.
Lila is continuing the Moss legacy at Vivienne Westwood – in the nineties, Kate was a familiar face in the label’s catwalk shows. One of her most notable appearances was for the spring/summer 1994 collection, when she walked the runway topless, wearing a tiny mini skirt and eating an ice cream.
Both Smith and Lila Moss’ outfits felt like old-school Westwood, drawing upon historical references and giving them a punk feel.
A mix of influences and inspirations ran throughout the collection – from jockstraps that looked like codpieces to dramatic tops with exaggerated shoulders that almost resembled American football player uniforms, as well as eighties-inspired pieces like the large blue conical bra corset.
But there were plenty of futuristic touches too, and elements like the hooded outfits and the thick white daubs of make-up underneath models’ eyes felt like they wouldn’t be out of place on the new Dune: Part Two film set.
The front row also had a futuristic edge, with American actress Julia Fox looking straight out of a sci-fi movie in a glittering green corseted gown with bleached browns and gold accents.
She was joined by American influencer Emma Chamberlain, who wore a black skirt suit with exaggerated shoulders and a spiky hairdo.
On first glance, Kronthaler’s latest offering for Vivienne Westwood might not seem like a hugely wearable collection. The way the clothes were brought together was somewhat chaotic, with lots of clashing patterns and materials.
This tumultuous energy was matched by the performance accompanying the show, where three musicians made guttural sounds into microphones, while also playing instruments like the violin, dancing and stomping their feet.
But on closer inspection, there are plenty of pieces in the collection that could be worn by less experimental dressers – particularly some of the shirts, boots and bags that went down the runway.
The clothes might not be for everyone, but you can’t deny that Kronthaler is pushing the boundaries of fashion, and continues to have one of the most unique and interesting shows on the Paris Fashion Week calendar.
