Vivienne Westwood holds a special place in the public consciousness, beloved for both her fashion and her activism. Her clothes have become as instantly recognisable as her red hair, with her love of corsetry, crinolines and tartan all cementing her place in fashion history. Now, almost four years after her death, The Bowes Museum in County Durham will host the first retrospective of her work, Vivienne Westwood: Rebel – Visionary – Storyteller, focusing in particular on her formative years working with her partner, Malcolm McLaren.
“There hasn’t been a major Westwood retrospective since her death in 2022, so we are privileged at The Bowes Museum to be presenting her work on this scale,” explains curator Rachel Whitworth. “Her work was wide-ranging in its historical references, but always of its time and has stood the test of time in the longevity of her influence and reputation. I think the increased interest in Westwood since her death makes this a perfect moment for a retrospective, both to remind visitors of her extensive output and to introduce her to new generations.”
Westwood had a personal connection to the museum, having previously opened a major exhibition of lace there, Fine & Fashionable: Lace from the Blackborne Collection, back in 2006, to which she also lent some pieces. “This personal connection is echoed in the museum’s collection, which contains many objects, such as historic fashion, ceramics, paintings, sculpture, metalwork and woodwork, of the type which inspired Westwood at the V&A and the Wallace Collection,” adds Whitworth. “It was the parallels between her historic inspiration and The Bowes Museum’s collections that led private collector Peter Smithson to approach the museum in the first place.”
As for the show’s subtitle, Rebel – Storyteller – Visionary, Whitworth explains that they were chosen to demonstrate both the progression and circularity of Westwood’s career. “From the beginning, she and Malcolm McLaren rebelled against the mainstream and created ‘worlds’ in their shop at 430 King’s Road, London, in its different guises, responding to themes and movements,” she says. “They encouraged buyers to enter that ‘story’ or lifestyle through the clothes. Westwood’s genius for storytelling or the creation of worlds through the themes of her collections is particularly strong in her early to mid-career years, for example in Pirate (A/W 1981/82) with McLaren, Harris Tweed (A/W 1987/88) and Dressing Up (A/W 1991/92). This ability to transcend time and trends and to make her style and influence last across the decades is part of the visionary strand of her story, along with her support for environmental and political causes which have become more prescient over time.”
Here, Whitworth picks her six key pieces from the collection and explains why they are a must-see.
The Crinoline 
© The Bowes Museum, County Durham
“Westwood is known for her inspiration from fashion history. The corset and crinoline are probably the most obvious examples. Introduced in Mini-Crini (S/S 1986), the signature mini-crinis were inspired by crinolines, derived from crin (French for horsehair). While considered to be one of her more unwearable garments, except on the catwalk, Westwood ensured that historic influence met practicality by using flexible plastic boning for structure so they would be light to wear and always spring back to shape.”
The Corset
© The Bowes Museum, County Durham
“There are several Westwood corsets in the exhibition, shown as framed works of art and as part of ensembles. Westwood introduced her ‘Stature of Liberty’ corset for Harris Tweed (A/W 1987/88) and it quickly became a signature piece. She had used undergarments over outerwear in previous collections, but here the undergarment became the outer garment in its own right. Westwood made three changes to adapt the historic template for modern-day wear. The boning was replaced with flexible plastic strips, the side panels were made from elasticated fabric, and the lacing was replaced with a zip.”
The Crown
© The Bowes Museum, County Durham
“Harris Tweed (A/W 1987/88) also saw the introduction of the Westwood crown. She used it to give her collection a sense of royalty, affectionately referring to Harris Tweed as her Royal collection. Westwood thought her crown was very practical, regularly wearing one while cycling around London. Its iconic fashion status was confirmed when it was worn by model Sara Stockbridge on the cover of i-D magazine in August 1987, and it has become one of Westwood’s most recognisable pieces, combining humour with tradition. The original design was created by milliner Stephen Jones (b.1957). Westwood cut the numerous pieces of brightly coloured tweed herself. Jones then sewed them together, adding 3D ‘jewels’ to the sides and top, which he created by folding the fabric as if doing origami. He added an ‘ermine’ trim using fun fur from Berwick Street market in Soho.”
Tartan 
© The Bowes Museum, County Durham
“Tartan has a long history in fashion. Beginning as a woollen fabric worn for warmth and practicality in the Scottish highlands, its designs became more colourful and varied as they were identified with individual clans. Vivienne Westwood originally used tartan for bondage trousers during the punk movement of the mid-to late 1970s, revisiting the pattern throughout her career. For Anglomania (A/W 1993/94), she worked with weavers Lochcarron of Scotland, playing on the idea of the clan tartan and introducing a number of tartans dedicated to family members.”
Works of art
© The Bowes Museum, County Durham
“Westwood was inspired by works of art in different forms, which is a major reason why her work is such a good fit at The Bowes Museum, a collection of both fine and decorative arts. For example, the title of Voyage to Cythera (A/W 1989/90) was inspired by artist Jean-Antoine Watteau’s (1684-1721) The Embarkation for Cythera (1717), birthplace of Aphrodite, in the Musee du Louvre, Paris. Following her marriage to Andreas Kronthaler in 1992, he and Westwood reimagined the work of some of history’s great artists. They reproduced imagery by Francois Boucher (1703-1770) and Peter Paul Rubens (1570-1640) through printed fabrics, and named designs, the ‘Hals’ shirt and ‘Gainsborough’ blouse, after Frans Hals (1582-1666) and Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788). Fully-printed ensembles were designed to give the impression of wearing an artist’s canvas.”
Tailoring
© The Bowes Museum, County Durham
“Alongside the ripped T-shirts of her punk days, Westwood is known for her tailoring — mainly for women, but she designed for men too. From her Pirate collection (A/W 1981/82) onwards, she reworked traditional designs into bold new forms. This is most evident in her tailored jackets. The ‘Bettina’ jacket was named after model Bettina Graziani (1925-2015) and first appeared in Grand Hotel (S/S 1993). It is a tight-fitting short jacket with a complex structure. We are showing two examples from Vive La Cocotte (A/W 1995/96) and Storm in a Teacup (A/W 1996/97). The Storm in a Teacup ‘Windy Bettina’ jacket is made even more complex by being bias cut.”
Vivienne Westwood: Rebel – Visionary – Storyteller is at The Bowes Museum at Barnard Castle in County Durham from 28 March to 6 September 2026.
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