Harris Tweed suit, Time Machine collection
Harris Tweed, satin lining
Vivienne Westwood, London, UK
Design
Vivienne Westwood’s Time Machine collection, Autumn/Winter 1988/89 was inspired H. G. Wells’ novel and was part of a series of five collections later known as Britain Must Go Pagan. Westwood married eclectic elements such as traditional British fabrics, Fair Isle sweaters with computer game patterns, ‘Miss Marple’ suits, metallic corsets and articulated suiting inspired by medieval armour.

In a career spanning over four decades, Vivienne Westwood has repeatedly delved into the past for inspiration, taking cues from art history, fashion history and literature. Never content with merely following what has gone before, Westwood re-interprets elements from the past in irreverent ways, from combining traditional British tailoring with fetish wear, to reimagining the crinoline dresses of the mid-19th century.

I am never more happy than when I parody the British in the context of Classical perspective.
Vivienne Westwood

Craft Skills
Harris Tweed is the only fabric in the world protected by its own legislation and due to its exceptional quality it has been embraced by the world of high fashion. Harris Tweed is defined as, ‘Handwoven by the islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides, finished in the Outer Hebrides, and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides.’

A self-taught tailor, Westwood learned her craft through practical exploration. In the 1970s she taught herself how to make Teddy-boy clothes by deconstructing 1950s originals, explaining: ‘I am a great believer in copying – there has never been an age in which people have so little respect for the past.’ She has studied first-hand the structure of historical dress in museum archives to enrich her ever expanding design vocabulary.
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Object photography reproduced with permission from Vivienne Westwood Ltd
Catwalk photography © Image Scotland/Alamy
Vivienne Westwood portrait © Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy
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