Trends? Fashion designers have dictated a few. But in a company built on an ever-changing style, one of the smartest things you can do is have a style that hardly changes. That’s probably why most designers have a uniform and stick to it as devoutly as a priest.
While some enjoy walking and being ambassadors for their own brand, others prefer not to distract from their work. As a new auction at Christie’s reminds us, Vivienne Westwood fell firmly into the former camp. In June, the auction house will sell rare items from the Derbyshire-born designer’s personal wardrobe, a treasure trove of more than 200 lots spanning four decades, to raise money for her favorite charities.
“She was the ultimate free-thinking maverick, and this was reflected in her designs and her activism,” says Adrian Hume-Sayer, director at Christie’s and head of sales. “Looking at the themes of her collections, from propaganda to climate revolution, she practiced what she preached. Her clothes reflect the breadth of her interests.
The things that inspired her varied enormously, from 18th-century French painting to the climate crisis. Her wardrobe is very much a reflection of her and her ideas.”
That’s true, because if anyone dressed in tribute to her own design ideals and philosophies, it was Westwood, a woman who wouldn’t dream of meeting the late queen without knickers, and whose flaming orange hair might as well was a key figure in her 80s. just like in her younger years.
Westwood’s wardrobe made her an icon, instantly recognizable to her audience. Here’s what other designers’ uniforms can reveal (or hide) about them too…
Karl Lagerfeld
Lagerfeld’s black tuxedo jacket, white shirt and skinny black jeans, worn with ubiquitous black sunglasses and black leather gloves, were perhaps one of the most distinctive fashion uniforms of all time. His fan and wispy gray ponytail became his most enduring trademarks. Lagerfeld once described his uniform as ‘like a mask. And for me, the Venice Carnival lasts all year round.” Like Andy Warhol, the deliberateness with which he caricatured himself was pure genius. He was a trademark, and that trademark was Chanel – through Roy Orbison and an 18th century couturier.
Miuccia Prada
Most 74-year-olds wouldn’t wear A-line skirts and ankle socks, but most 74-year-olds aren’t Miuccia Prada—a designer so unrelentingly chic that she graced the cover of American magazine last month. Fashion. If you’ve ever wondered why midlife women in your circle wear Alice straps, statement earrings, oversized brooches, or slingbacks with kitten heels, it’s probably because they were inspired by a Prada show or by Mrs. Prada. They are one and the same.
Pharrell Williams
The American record producer, singer, songwriter and fashion designer is one of the few modern celebrities who truly deserves to be called a multi-hyphenate. You have to be a genius to write a song as catchy as the one from 2014 Cheerful: a hit record is much harder to make than a successful fashion show, and Williams dresses with a quirky, quicksilver liquidity that reflects his busy, curious, polymath mind. Described by Esquire as ‘the best dressed man in the world’ he is currently bringing his own luxurious take on hip-hop style to Louis Vuitton menswear. How does Williams dress? Like a shady member of a billionaire boy’s club – coincidentally the name of his first label.
Donatella Versace
There are many wonderful things about Donatella Versace, but best of all is that she is so resolutely, unapologetically, glamorous Italian, with a ‘molto sexy’ personal style that never wavers, no matter how chaste or androgynous the trend cycle. Like a Calabrian Bet Lynch, no pencil skirt is too tight, no stiletto too high to reveal her bows. The aesthetic of the mafia woman? She invented it. But Donatella is not a mafia woman: she is the whole mafia, a steely survivor who always does things her way.
Phoebe Philo
Entire doctorates have probably been written about the personal style of London-born Philo, who not only spawned an army of fans of her own (if Taylor has her Swifties, Phoebe has her Philophiles), but also provided a blueprint for some of her female contemporaries at taking their own style. arches (paging Victoria Beckham). An outspoken minimalist, you’ll never see Philo in a bright color or a bold print: it’s a white shirt worn under a navy blue sweater, worn with loose, tailored trousers, finished with the sneakers you own for six months will wear later.
Hedi Slimane
If the revered French designer has ever worn wide-leg jeans, we don’t know yet. Few male designers have been as faithfully reflected in their own collections as his. As creative director of Dior Homme between 2000 and 2007, he made skinny black jeans, form-fitting suits and slim leather jackets, cult items among men of a certain age, but also among men too big to wear them (Karl Lagerfeld famously said that he lost weight specifically to fit into Slimane’s designs). Since then, Slimane has helmed Yves Saint Laurent and Celine, always bringing his distinct personal style with him. How should you describe it? “Chainsmoking love child of Lou Reed and Keith Richards” works.
Alessandro Michele
At Gucci he invented the “sexy librarian,” making a virtue of geeky accessories like bottleneck glasses and yellow tights. At Valentino, where he is now creative director, the jury is curious to see what the Rome-based Italian will reveal. What we do know is that there will be no minimalism. More is more for Michele: if he were a musical, that would be it Joseph and the amazing Technicolor Dreamcoatthanks to his love for wearing rich brocades, bold prints and bold colors.
The Olsen twins
It’s clear that the Olsen twins are two separate people. But are they? Have you ever seen them in the same room together? I’m kidding, although Mary-Kate and Ashley are so reclusive that it’s been forever since anyone has seen them at a public event. Their devilishly expensive label, The Row, launched in 2006 and is the first and last word in ‘quiet luxury’: breathless acolytes like to describe it as ‘effortless’, ‘artistic’ and ‘uncluttered’. Like The Row, the Olsens’ personal style is the result of what happens when you spend your early years as a child actor Full house, forced to wear plaid sundresses and cute white ruffled socks. It screams, “No one will ever take the p–s out of me again.”
Giorgio Armani
He may be known as the “king of the blazer,” but Mr. Armani’s own runway look is a strict example of “no jacket required.” Now 89, the Italian legend always wears the bow tie in a simple navy crew-neck sweater, navy trousers and pristine white tennis shoes – a classic, casual look that reflects his design philosophy. “Fashion is about trends – style is about more eternal qualities,” he has said. “The essence of good design lies in the consistency of approach.” And the consistency of your own look, presumably – which in Armani’s case can best be described as “what Dickie Greenleaf would have worn if he had turned 90”.