Thanks to viral penis pendants, omnipresent orb earrings and the iconic pearl choker, Vivienne Westwood’s jewellery output is as famous as her fashion. This week, a new book from Thames & Hudson celebrates that vast archive, delving into the 55-year history of Westwood’s jewellery work. Vivienne Westwood & Jewellery is the first-ever book dedicated to that history, written by AnOther fashion features director Alexander Fury, and produced in collaboration with the house.
“This lavish encyclopaedia of Vivienne Westwood jewellery evokes the blend of luxury and rebellion that is the house’s signature style,” said the house in a statement. “Whether a skilfully rendered safety-pin brooch, a hand-strung ‘broken’ pearl necklace or the iconic Westwood orb in crystal, these are pieces that define the house’s codes.” Elsewhere in the book, others accessories that appear include the Eva Necklace worn by Eva Herzigová at SS97’s Vive la Bagatelle show, Kate Moss’s massive nose ring from On Liberty AW94, Westwood herself wearing the I Am Not a Terrorist Choker in 2006, and another one of Moss in 1994 with an inexplicable bouffant wearing the Athena Necklace.
With a foreword written by Westwood creative director Andreas Kronthaler, and an introduction written by Fury, the edition also delves into the designer’s long history with jewellery, a creative practice that was just as serious to Westwood as fashion design. In 1957, when she was just 17-years-old, Westwood moved from rural Derbyshire to London with her family to study fashion at Harrow Art School. “I didn’t like it, we had to draw all the time, and I wanted to make clothes,” Fury quotes Westwood as saying in the introduction. Because of this, Westwood transferred to silversmithing to learn how to make jewellery, and though she only stuck around for one term, “for the rest of her life this remained her only formal training in design.”
Vivienne Westwood & Jewellery is available from November 13 at thamesandhudson.com. Scroll through the gallery above for jewellery from the Westwood collection