Vivienne Westwood unveils anti war film to showcase AW18 collection

Dame Vivienne Westwood revealed last month that she was ditching the catwalk this season in favour of presenting her AW18 collection in image and digital form. The result, unveiled today, was no less exciting and provocative than her catwalk shows of old, and arguably was even more so.

The designer has been dropping images of her "Don't Get Killed" collection online on Instagram throughout today but it is a video that shows exclusive backstage scenes from the AW18 shoot that has been the highlight.

Running at 2 minutes 45 seconds the film, which has a theme of war running throughout, shows a diverse cast of characters (of all ages, races and body types) discussing how they feel about being part of the "Vivienne Westwood Army" and showing them running through sandbag-strewn streets with drums and flags.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bds4hKCg6ni/?taken-by=viviennewestwood

The EU flag – and as such a pro-EU message – is much in evidence in the film, however an Instagram post from this evening shows hairdresser Lyndell Mansfield brandishing a Dyson Supersonic hairdryer giving credit to the brand for their support in fixing the models' hair (we're assuming Westwood knows James Dyson is one of the most vocal and high profile supporters of Brexit, as some commentators on the post have already pointed out).

Still, the underlying message of the film is peace and unity so bringing together two of the UK's leading creative forces from both sides of the leave/remain divide is (whether intended or not) a positive message.

As for the clothes, they were classic Westwood with tartans and checks aplenty, stripes, camouflage and lots of pink, bright red and dusty lilac, so while remaining directional (and, again, whether intended or not) there were plenty of trend boxes ticked too. Not that any of that concerns Dame Vivienne, of course. For her it's the message that matters.