Vivienne Westwood turns heads in Paris with leopard pants and horned platforms
Most provocative looks from the new Vivienne Westwood season (Getty Images)
At Paris Fashion Week, Andreas Kronthaler presented the Vivienne Westwood Spring/Summer 2027 collection. The designer turned the runway into a carnival where corsets and voluminous skirts appeared alongside leopard-print lingerie, provocative slogans, and anatomical jewelry.
Leopard-print bloomers
One of the most eye-catching looks featured voluminous leopard-print bloomers.
They were paired with an asymmetric vest made from a material described in the collection as luxurious knitwear.
In another look, short bloomers were styled with a jacket and a bikini top. Lingerie was no longer a hidden part of the wardrobe but became its central element.
Checked corsets and anatomical jewelry
The collection featured gingham-print corsets, which Kronthaler paired with golden knitwear.
But the jewelry drew the most attention: pendants shaped as male genitalia hung from the clothes.
The designer presented these provocative details as a kind of trophy, continuing Vivienne Westwood’s tradition of addressing sexuality without euphemisms or shyness.
Voluminous skirts from the past
Kronthaler adapted historical silhouettes for the modern runway. Huge checked pannier skirts, which created volume at the sides, were worn with satin blouses decorated with ruffles.
The plunging necklines of the blouses reached almost to the navel, making the looks resemble both aristocratic attire from the 17th and 18th centuries and costumes for a provocative modern party.
Platforms with devil horns
Even the footwear in the collection was anything but neutral. Chunky paisley-print platforms were topped with tiny devil horns.
They completed layered looks featuring corsets, tulle, and satin, reinforcing the show’s carnival-like atmosphere.
Bikinis, mesh, and an inflatable ring
Kronthaler’s beachwear was just as unconventional. Men’s swim briefs featuring lightning-bolt prints were paired with a bright orange inflatable ring.
A similar print appeared on a bikini, layered under a sheer mesh garment.
In this way, the designer transformed ordinary summer pieces into fully fledged runway looks.
Sheer corsets worn over clothing
Models wore lightweight tulle corsets not only directly on the body but also over other garments.
The sheer structures were paired with voluminous satin skirts, headpieces, and corsets.
In this collection, the corset did not restrict the body but seemed to move with it, preserving one of Vivienne Westwood’s defining codes.
Nightgowns instead of summer suits
The men’s looks consisted of lace blouses, tank tops with extremely deep necklines, and voluminous nightgowns.
Kronthaler admitted that he himself wore similar pieces without underwear during the summer heat.
Some of the nightgowns were made from brightly colored bazin cotton fabric purchased in Paris’s Barbès neighborhood.
It gave the garments vivid colors and a distinctive sheen.
A jacket that hides cheaper fabric
Another historical reference was Kronthaler’s interpretation of the so-called Cheat Jacket from the late 17th century.
Its front was made from expensive fabric, while simpler materials and scraps were used in less visible areas.
Kronthaler transferred this principle to the modern collection, turning an old-fashioned cost-saving technique into a design feature.
The show featured a performance by punk poet Stuart Mackenzie, while archival fragments of Vivienne Westwood’s voice were woven into the soundtrack.
In the finale, her words became the key to understanding the entire collection: new ideas are born by developing those that already exist.
