Vivienne Westwood's Iconic Collection Hits the Auction Block

Vivienne Westwood's personal collection, including dresses, suits, and jewelry, will be auctioned by Christie's in London. The auction, consisting of over 200 lots, aims to raise funds for various charities. The collection reflects the British designer's iconic style and activism over 40 years. An exhibition of the lots will be open until June 24.

Dresses, suits, shoes and jewellery from the personal collection of late British designer Vivienne Westwood will go under the hammer this month is an auction aimed at raising funds for charity. More than 200 lots are being offered by Christie's in London for the two-part "Vivienne Westwood: The Personal Collection" auction, made up of a live sale on June 25 and an online auction running June 14-28.

Westwood, one of British fashion's biggest names, died in December 2022, aged 81. Her collaborator and widower Andreas Kronthaler has selected looks spanning some 40 years for the auction, with the earliest from Westwood's Autumn-Winter 1983-1984 collection. "These are the things that she chose to wear herself throughout the last 40 years of her life," Adrian Hume-Sayer, head of sale for the auction, told Reuters at a press preview on Thursday. "It's very personal... These are the things you can see her on her bike, riding around London, press interviews, end of the catwalk... just conducting her day-to-day life. But she also lived... as she spoke. And so unlike many people... in her position she wore things repeatedly. She had favourites."

Westwood, whose name was synonymous with 1970s punk rebellion, was also known for her activism. Her T-shirts bore slogans against fossil fuel-driven climate change and pollution, as well as her support for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. In addition to clothes and accessories, a set of enlarged prints of a pack of playing cards Westwood designed in 2017 - focusing on issues such as climate change and inequality - are also being offered for sale with an estimate of 30,000 pounds - 50,000 pounds ($38,292 - $63,820).

Proceeds from the auction will go towards causes and charities Westwood supported - her own Vivienne Foundation, Greenpeace, Amnesty International and Médecins Sans Frontières, Christie's said. An exhibition of the lots will be open to the public at Christie's London from Friday until June 24. ($1 = 0.7835 pounds)

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