Vivienne Westwood’s autumn/winter 2026 collection, unveiled during Paris Fashion Week, saw creative director Andreas Kronthaler deliver a theatrical display that continued the house’s legacy of deconstruction and norm-defying style.
The runway was dominated by bold stockings, oversized headwear, and 1980s punk tailoring.
Singer Chappell Roan joined fellow musicians Lola Young and Paris Jackson among the stars seated front row.
Models emerged from dramatic lighting that cast long reflections across the floor, creating a stage-like atmosphere.
Such theatricality remains a hallmark of the Westwood house, long known for challenging conventions of class, gender, and historical dress.
Since the passing of founder Vivienne Westwood in 2022, Kronthaler, her longtime collaborator and husband, has continued to steer the brand, maintaining the rebellious elements that made Westwood one of fashion’s most influential designers.
For autumn/winter, those motifs were evident in a collection that fused historical references with exaggerated and subverting tailoring.
Broad-shouldered silhouettes dominated the runway, with plaid (another trend also seen at Chloe) overcoats layered over ruched pencil skirts and pussy-bow blouses.
The boxy tailoring echoed the Eighties power silhouette currently resurfacing across fashion month, but filtered through Westwood’s irreverent lens.
One sharply cut check coat paired with a draped skirt showcased Kronthaler’s interest for balancing masculine tailoring with traditionally feminine shapes.
Elsewhere, peplum skirt suits reworked classic cuts into sculptural silhouettes that nipped dramatically at the waist before flaring outward.
The designer also leaned heavily into Westwood’s long-standing fascination with historical dress.
While incorporating the Westwood corsetry, Kronthaler layered sashes and strips of fabric twisted around the body in deliberately deconstructed arrangements.
Platform heels and slouchy knee-high boots gave a nod to Westwood’s punk era, while stockings, another trend seen widely across the autumn/winter runways, created a provocative edge.
Headwear was particularly dramatic.
One look featured an oversized coiled headpiece wrapped around the model’s head like a sculptural halo, highlighting the London label’s reputation for bold and eccentric styling.
As with many Westwood collections, the show also questioned traditional ideas of gender in clothing.
Male models appeared in suspenders, heels and short skirts, while tailoring was worn across genders in ways that blurred conventional masculine and feminine dress codes.
The approach echoed Westwood’s long-standing exploration of clothing as both political and cultural commentary.
Born from the punk movement of the late 70s, Westwood’s designs frequently challenged the conventions of establishment fashion.
Over the decades she drew inspiration from historical garments, including corsets, bustles and crinolines, often reinterpreting them with a rebellious twist.
Kronthaler’s latest collection continued that dialogue, combining heritage tailoring with avant-garde construction.
The show’s finale delivered one of the most striking looks of the evening: the Vivienne Westwood bride.
The model appeared wearing an enormous cylindrical headpiece accompanied by a bouquet made from radishes.
The outfit itself consisted of a precise and tightly tailored two-piece with a cinched waist and long column skirt.
The surreal flourish captured the spirit that has long defined the brand: theatrical, unconventional and always eccentric.
More than four decades after Westwood helped reshape British fashion, the house continues to explore the tension between history and rebellion.
And under Kronthaler’s direction, the label’s signature mix of historical references and theatrical flair remain firmly intact on the Paris runway.
