Vivienne Westwood’s men’s show is coming home

Historically Vivienne Westwood has always presented her menswear line – MAN Label – as part of Milan Men’s Fashion Week. Today, however, the designer has revealed that she is bringing this show back to London, where she began designing over 40 years ago.

But that’s not all – the designer has also announced that she will now be presenting her menswear and womenswear lines (Red Label) under one label, following in the footsteps of Burberry and Gucci who made similar announcements at the end of the last year. The first show of this kind will be staged in January, as part of London Collections: Men, while the Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood line will continue to be presented as part of Paris Fashion Week.

Westwood’s news comes at a time when the fashion industry is in a state of flux, with more and more designers breaking away from the traditional fashion week system. As well as merging menswear and womenswear lines, some are adopting the ‘See Now/Buy Now’ model, while others (like Vetements) are choosing to present their collections outside of the fashion week schedule entirely.

Though things are changing at Westwood’s brand, her design signatures (such as her off-kilter tailoring) and her punk spirit remain the same. At her AW16 menswear show in June, she dedicated the event to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been detained by Sweden and the United Kingdom, and screened a film in which she makes a plea for his release.

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