December 15, 2016
Dame Vivienne Westwood
British apparel label Vivienne Westwood is fusing fashion and art through a lens of activism for the brand’s first exhibition in China.
Titled “Get A Life,” the exhibition explores six different themes ranging from cutting edge fashion to environmental advocacy, two driving forces of Dame Vivienne and her work. Get A Life, co-curated by Dame Vivienne and her team, will open at Shanghai’s K11 Art Mall on Dec. 20.
Motivate conversation
The K11 Art Mall is a form of retail theater that merges elements of art, people and nature together. A green and eco-friendly space, K11 displays permanent collection of local Chinese artists, allowing passersby to enjoy the artworks at their leisure while they shop.
With a similar objective, Dame Vivienne has invited seven contemporary artists to create response pieces to her designs and activism. For China, the merging of subject matter and creative disciplines is a pioneering effort.
Exhibition attendees will walk through six themes that include Dame Vivienne’s ecological philosophies. The designer’s ideologies will be visualized through hand-drawn graphics and past campaigns such as Greenpeace's “Save the Arctic,” fashion film, photography, archival prints and illustrations.
The above works to showcase Dame Vivienne’s ability to fuse fashion and social commentary. It is the designer and her collaborators hope that visitors will ask, “How will Ms. Westwood’s inspiring journeys in design, art and activism, in turn, motivate China and the rest of the world?”
Dame Vivienne Westwood for Save the Arctic 2015
The K11 Art Foundation, which embraces creative talent in Greater China, has select local artists such as Sun Xun, Wu Junyong, Zhang Ruyi, Yu Honglei, Wang Congyi, Nathan Zhou and Zhu Xi. The artist contributions for the exhibition were curated by Song Zhenxi, who titled the collection “Monument of the Peach Blossom Valley,” a nod to a Chinese poem that recounts a utopia untouched by humans.
“It is my great pleasure to introduce this one-of-a-kind exhibition by Dame Vivienne Westwood to China,” said Adrian Cheng, founder of K11 and K11 Art Foundation. “New World and K11 will continue to lead cross-platform collaborations in Greater China and we hope this exhibition will inspire people to talk more about the interconnecting relationships between fashion, art and the world in which we live.”
Get A Life will be on view at the K11 Art Mall Dec. 20, 2016 through Feb. 28, 2017.
Environmental protection is a cause many brands, retailers and designers align themselves with. In addition to exhibitions, a product is developed to benefit the related cause.
For example, Canadian department store chain Holt Renfrew supported ocean conservancy Blue Marine Foundation through the launch of a partnership with fashion label Kenzo.
Beginning on World Ocean’s Day on June 8, Holt Renfrew sold an exclusive limited-edition capsule collection of accessories by Kenzo, with a portion of proceeds going to Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE) by Holt Renfrew. For conscientious consumers, this collection provides a way to give back through fashion (see story).
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