FASHION

BACKSTAGE AT ANDREAS KRONTHALER FOR VIVIENNE WESTWOOD SPRING-SUMMER 2017 PARIS

By Crash redaction

ANDREAS KRONTHALER FOR VIVIENNE WESTWOOD SS17: A BACKSTAGE STORY

This season, Andreas Kronthaler pays homage to the women in his life with a collection imbued with a Mediterranean spirit. With an ounce of nostalgia, he evokes in the show notes the feminine figures that influenced and helped him throughout the years: close collaborators Rosita and Iris, lingerie designer Yasmine Eslami, stylist Sabina Schreder, and of course Vivienne Westwood herself. « We have made thousands of decisions together and learn from each other. » The collection is a glorious mix of wit, sensuality, and exuberant femininity. It is also a reflection on today’s Europa (« the goddess who gave her name to our continent ») and its current troubles. Conscient of our society’s issues, Andreas Kronthaler and Vivienne Westwood create silhouettes that play on the notion of nudity – or sometimes the omnipresence of the clothes, as with this « shelter » of metallic fabric. Exaggerated bustiers are true show-stoppers, and so are the straw hats, Greek phallus jewelry, and impeccable English tailoring – always with the Vivienne Westwood spin. For the first time, the House is selling a selection of 20 pieces from the collection right off the runway, exclusively in its flagship stores and online. An events that also corresponds to the opening of the first Vivienne Westwood store in Paris.

www.viviennewestwood.com

Photography: Clément Louis for Crash Magazine