A Myriad of Influences Comes Together for Vivienne Westwood at her Red Label A/W 13 show

A strain of Hitchcock-heroine chic ran through the A/W13 Vivienne Westwood Red Label collection, although the designer's influences were decidedly contemporary: climate change and the plight of Julian Assange. While the show was undeniably modern, matching skirt and knit combinations, tightly belted wool coats and full skirts, including on a netted prom dress, served as pleasing counterpoints to the brasher, more modern elements for which the *grande dame* of renegade fashion is famous. This season that drama manifested itself in clashing colours, high-octane make-up, gold disco boots and rubber shoe straps. Many pieces, like a strapless prom dress with a huge bow across the decolletage, were as wearable as they were eye-catching and encapsulated Westwood's subversive glamour.