Vivienne Westwood celebrates unisex clothing in new project

The toga is one of the oldest garments in the world. Its storied history dates back to Ancient Rome, but it also features in contemporary fashion such as Vivienne Westwood’s SS82 ‘Savages’ show and, more recently, the designer’s Gold Label (now known as Kronthaler for Westwood) AW16 womenswear show. These togas, and unisex clothing more broadly, are the subject of Dame Viv’s latest project in which she gave five-up-and-coming creatives the opportunity to style and shoot them in their own way.

For this project, which is unveiled today, Westwood enlisted filmmaker Luke Clayton Thompson, photographer and multidisciplinary artist Eleanor Hardwick, girl band Dream Wife, environmental activist Glacier Girl and jazz dancer Lee Bridgman. To make these images, these creatives collaborated with photographers including Dazed Digital contributor Daisy Walker, Amanda Charchian, James Robjant – the latter of whom’s photograph of Dream Wife can be seen above.

As yet, only four of the togas debuted at March’s Kronthaler for Westwood show have been made. According to the brand, making them is an incredibly laborious process – one that involves an elasticated rectangle of fabric that has been hand-laced with a strip of organza being covered with sequins, hand-stitched one by one.

Hear Vivienne Westwood explain more about the project in the video below: