Creative Women: Vivienne Westwood and her eighteenth-century references with Paola Di Trocchio

Dame Vivienne Westwood (1941-2022) was a leading 20th and 21st century fashion designer, widely associated with the birth of punk in London. She was also renowned for her meticulous historical references and love of research. Part of her research included visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to research the cut and construction of eighteenth-century fashion pieces. “I take something from the past that has a sort of vitality that has never been exploited – like the crinoline – and get very intense. In the end you do something original because you overlay your own ideas” she said. This lecture will explore the eighteenth-century references throughout some of her key collections, tracing them to the past, whilst pointing out her original innovations.

Paola Di Trocchio is a leading fashion curator, writer and speaker. In her 20-year career at the National Gallery of Victoria, she curated and co-curated 22 fashion and textiles exhibitions including Edward Steichen and Art Deco Fashion, The Krystyna Campbell-Pretty Fashion Gift, 200 Years of Australian Fashion, Guo Pei among others and was co-ordinating co-curator for The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier from the Sidewalk to the Catwalk. She is currently completing her doctoral thesis.

Your ticket includes tea or Market Lane coffee served before the lecture, and time to browse our exclusive range of books, gifts, and homewares at TJC Emporium.

This lecture is presented on-site at The Johnston Collection. Please see your ticket for details. NOTE: Tickets for this event do not include access to our exhibition-house, Fairhall. Guided tours of the current exhibition can be booked separately.

This event is supported by The Colin Holden Charitable Trust.

Image: Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood Fall Ready-to-Wear, 1995, look 80.