The House of Kronthaler?
Vivienne Westwood’s Spring/Summer 2025 campaign feels at odds with the brand's vintage punk aesthetic.
Andreas Kronthaler modeling for the Spring Summer 2025 campaign. Photographed by Juergen Teller via Vivienne Westwood. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
What do toilets, tulle, and tartan have in common? They are all featured in Vivienne Westwood’s Spring/Summer 2025 campaign. The “Calibrate” collection marked a return to womenswear for the brand, which built its identity around the androgynous punk fashion of its founder and namesake. Andreas Kronthaler, the creative director for Vivienne Westwood since 2000, acknowledged this change in a recent interview with Vogue. “These are clothes that are built for a woman, not a man, to wear,” he stated.
Despite the shift away from genderless pieces, the collection is still undeniably Westwood. The brand’s latest pieces featuring their “signature tartan” pattern have been heavily promoted on Instagram. From handbags, to skirts, to blazers, the collection truly features a party of patterns. Additionally, fan favorite pieces like the Sunday Dress and Monday shirt have been given some love, with new color options introduced.
Left: Rafe Crane-Robinson modeling a full tartan look. Right: Luc Defont-Saviard modeling denim on denim. Photographed by Juergen Teller for the SS 2025 campaign via Vivienne Westwood. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Dame Vivienne Westwood has been the princess of punk since her boutique Let It Rock in 1971. In the 54 years since her first designs, Westwood and her namesake brand have been synonymous with edgy high-end fashion that has pushed back against gender-norms long before it was trendy to do so. While the pearl choker complete with the saturn-sceptre logo is now a must-have accessory, for much of Westwood’s life she and her brand were treated as a joke. The most infamous example of which being her 1988 interview on Wogan, where both interviewers and audience laughed in her face as her winter collection Time Machine was being modeled. The interviewer even went so far as to ask Westwood “Do you really expect to sell those?” However, this did not get her down. Westwood went on to be named designer of the year in 1990 and 1991 for her innovative designs, and was granted the British Fashion Council’s Outstanding Achievement in Fashion design award in 2007. In 1992, Westwood was honored as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, making her a Dame for her countless achievements.
Westwood at the end of the catwalk for her 1997-98 Autumn/ Winter collection. Photographed by Neil Munns via The Guardian. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
In 2016 parts of the label were rebranded as “Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood”, as Westwood’s tribute to her husband's work. “I definitely wanted Andreas Kronthaler to be acknowledged by everybody for the genius that he is,” Westwood said in an interview with System Magazine. Having been at the helm of the brand for 25 years, Kronthaler has made it clear that he wishes to honor Westwood’s memory, while making the brand his own. “I’ve always been referring, you know: Would she like it? Is this what she would do? What would she choose? But then, in the end, also less so now” (via Vogue).
Calibrate–the latest Spring/ Summer collection’s title–means to carefully assess or adjust. With such iconic collections as Pirate (1981) or Mini-Crini (1985), cementing story-telling as a core aspect of the Vivienne Westwood brand identity, some fans were questioning the story behind this recent collection. Kronthaler says, “For once it’s just clothes” (via Vogue). Re-imagining looks from the romantic era and giving them a modern edge was quintessential Westwood, and has served in making the label stand out for decades. Having professionally collaborated with Westwood for nearly three decades, Kronthaler should know better than anyone what his deceased wife would have wanted for the brand’s next evolution. Does this mean Kronthaler’s vision for the future of the label skews away from its rebellious heritage? Is the latest work we see an homage to Westwood’s vision, or a manifestation of her husband’s own goals? Only time, and Kronthaler, can tell.
