A collection of dresses, suits, shoes, and jewelry belonging to the late British designer Vivienne Westwood will be auctioned this month to raise funds for charity.
Christie's London is hosting "Vivienne Westwood: The Personal Collection," a two-part auction featuring over 200 lots. The event includes a live sale on June 25 and an online auction running from June 14 to 28.
Westwood, a titan of British fashion known for her punk aesthetic, passed away in December 2022 at the age of 81. Her collaborator and widower, Andreas Kronthaler, has curated pieces spanning four decades for the auction, with the earliest from her Autumn-Winter 1983-1984 collection.
"These are the items she personally chose to wear over the last 40 years of her life," explained Adrian Hume-Sayer, head of sale for the auction, during a Reuters press preview. "It's very personal... you can see her in these clothes riding her bike around London, in press interviews, at the end of the catwalk, just going about her daily life. Unlike many others in her position, she wore things repeatedly and had her favorites."
Known not only for her fashion but also for her activism, Westwood used her clothing to advocate against fossil fuel-driven climate change and pollution, and to support causes like WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Alongside garments and accessories, the auction will feature enlarged prints of a set of playing cards designed by Westwood in 2017, focusing on themes such as climate change and inequality. These prints are estimated to fetch between £30,000 and £50,000 ($38,292 - $63,820).
Proceeds from the auction will benefit charities close to Westwood's heart, including her own Vivienne Foundation, Greenpeace, Amnesty International, and Médecins Sans Frontières, according to Christie's.
An exhibition of the auction lots will be open to the public at Christie's London from Friday until June 24, offering a glimpse into the personal and professional legacy of this influential designer. Photo by Mattia Passeri, Wikimedia commons.