Inspiration - Forty Years of Designer Fashion

Man’s suit; jacket, bondage trousers and ‘baker boy’ cap, wool, the pink Gordon tartan, Vivienne Westwood, 'Anglomania' Collection, Autumn-Winter 1993

Cotton Krall shirt and tie, 2006, on loan from Vivienne Westwood, Mathew Street, Liverpool

Leather shoes, 2006

Suit originally worn by Holly Johnson, former lead singer with Liverpool band, 'Frankie Goes to Hollywood'

Accession number WAG2004.27.1-3

Vivienne Westwood is perhaps best-known, together with her former partner Malcolm McLaren, as one of the pioneers of punk fashion during the late 1970s. Their clothes shop in London’s Kings Road was at the centre of the punk movement.

In 1981 Westwood launched herself as a fashion designer and began to look to a whole range of influences for her designs, beginning with ‘pirates’ as the theme for her first collection. She went on to produce garments inspired by other historical subjects, ethnic styles, 18th century French art, and classic British tweeds and tailoring. Westwood meticulously researches her sources in museums, galleries and archives.

This suit from the 'Anglomania' Collection is made from a traditional wool tartan, a textile that fascinates Westwood. She has even designed her own modern tartans for use in her clothes. This example, with its bondage-style trousers, reminds us of Westwood’s punk origins. 

The suit was worn by Holly Johnson as a solo artist, following the break up of the band 'Frankie Goes to Hollywood' in 1987.

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