Vivienne Westwood Spring/Summer 2027 – Body & Soul ⚡
Paris Fashion Week | Off The Cuff ✂️
Some fashion houses follow history.
Vivienne Westwood argues with it.
For Spring/Summer 2027, Creative Director Andreas Kronthaler returned to one of the house's most powerful characteristics: the ability to take history, tear it apart, throw it into the present and somehow make the result feel completely alive.
Titled “Body & Soul,” the collection was presented at Paris's historic Palais de la Femme, a building celebrating its centenary this year.
It was a fitting setting for a collection concerned with memory, identity, humanity and the future of fashion.
And, naturally, it wasn't particularly interested in behaving itself.
There were flowers.
Leopard.
Checks.
Denim.
Corsetry.
Oversized coats.
Deconstructed tailoring.
Historical references.
And silhouettes that seemed determined to ignore the concept of symmetry altogether.
In other words:
Vivienne Westwood.
Body & Soul
The title says much about the collection.
Body & Soul.
Westwood has always been fascinated by the relationship between the physical body and the clothes surrounding it.
Corsets reshape it.
Tailoring constructs it.
Drapery exposes it.
Historical dress disguises it.
And punk tears the whole thing apart.
For SS27, Kronthaler brings these ideas together in a collection that feels simultaneously historical and completely contemporary.
There is a sense of looking backwards.
But never simply for nostalgia.
The past becomes raw material.
And the present gets to decide what happens next.
Born in Barbès
One of the collection's starting points was surprisingly local.
Kronthaler found vividly coloured Bazin fabrics in Barbès, in Paris's 18th arrondissement.
Those fabrics became a major source of energy for the collection, bringing saturated colour, bold patterns and African textile influences into the unmistakable Westwood vocabulary.
Flowers collided with leopard.
Checks met vivid colour.
Patterns fought one another.
And rather than attempting to make everything harmonise, Kronthaler allowed the clashes to remain visible.
That is part of the beauty.
Westwood has never believed that everything needs to match.
Sometimes the most interesting combination is the one that shouldn't work.
The Cheat Jacket ✂️
For tailoring enthusiasts, one of the most fascinating historical references was the 17th-century “Cheat Jacket.”
Traditionally, the garment was constructed economically: precious fabric was used on the visible front, while cheaper remnants were used at the back.
Kronthaler turns the historical idea on its head.
For SS27, the back matters just as much as the front.
And that is a wonderfully Westwood idea.
Why should the back of a garment be treated as secondary?
Why should tailoring only be appreciated from one angle?
A well-cut garment should reward you from every direction.
It should reveal construction as you move around it.
It should have something to say when you walk away.
The Westwood version therefore becomes almost philosophical.
Front and back are equally important.
Tailoring Gets Deliciously Disobedient
Tailoring is one of the foundations of the Westwood aesthetic.
But it has never been conventional tailoring.
Jackets twist.
Waists move.
Shoulders exaggerate.
Hems become irregular.
Traditional construction is deliberately disrupted.
For SS27, this language continued through deconstructed tailoring, oversized coats and deliberately unbalanced silhouettes.
And this is where the collection becomes particularly relevant to bespoke tailoring.
Because before you can break the rules convincingly, you need to understand the rules.
The Westwood jacket may appear chaotic.
But the chaos is constructed.
The proportions are considered.
The drape is intentional.
The asymmetry is designed.
The silhouette doesn't simply happen.
It is cut that way.
The Art of Asymmetry
Symmetry is comfortable.
Asymmetry is interesting.
Westwood has understood this for decades.
For SS27, silhouettes deliberately shift from one side to the other.
A hem rises.
A jacket twists.
A shoulder becomes more prominent.
A drape falls unexpectedly.
A dress may appear almost off-balance.
But that imbalance creates movement.
It makes the garment feel alive.
And that is particularly important when the clothes are viewed in motion.
The body changes the garment.
The garment changes the body.
The relationship is constantly moving.
Flowers on Flowers 🌺
If there was one thing the collection refused to be, it was understated.
Florals appeared with abandon.
But these weren't delicate little summer blooms.
They were expressive.
Bold.
Sometimes oversized.
Often layered against other prints.
Floral fabrics collided with leopard.
Colour met colour.
Pattern met pattern.
And suddenly the traditional idea of a “pretty floral dress” became something much more rebellious.
That is classic Westwood.
Take something traditionally feminine.
Give it attitude.
Leopard Never Really Goes Away 🐆
Leopard print has long had a place within the rebellious fashion vocabulary.
In SS27, it returned alongside floral patterns and dramatic outerwear.
A leopard-and-floral printed chore coat worn by Natasha Lyonne perfectly captured the mood of the collection — practical in name, completely impractical in attitude.
It is a wonderful example of Westwood's ability to turn everyday garments into theatrical pieces.
A chore coat should be functional.
Westwood asks:
What if it were fabulous instead?
Corsetry and the Body
The corset remains one of Westwood's most recognisable historical interventions.
Rather than simply treating it as lingerie, Westwood transformed corsetry into a tool for reshaping the silhouette.
That philosophy continues into SS27.
The waist is emphasised.
The hips are exaggerated.
The bust becomes part of the architecture.
The body is not hidden beneath the garment.
It becomes part of the design.
And this is where the title Body & Soul becomes particularly appropriate.
The clothes are not merely placed on the body.
They interact with it.
Historical Dress, Recut
Kronthaler's Westwood has always been fascinated by historical clothing.
But SS27 doesn't treat the past as museum material.
Historical silhouettes are taken apart and reconstructed.
The references can feel Elizabethan one moment and punk the next.
A voluminous sleeve might meet denim.
A historical jacket might sit alongside contemporary tailoring.
A dramatic gown might be styled with something distinctly street.
The collection therefore exists somewhere between costume history and modern wardrobe.
It is not historical dress.
It is history after Westwood has got hold of it.
Denim Gets a Westwood Twist 👖
Denim brings the collection back down to earth.
It is familiar.
Practical.
Modern.
And deliberately less precious than some of the historical references.
But even denim isn't allowed to remain ordinary.
Cuts become unusual.
Proportions shift.
Details are exaggerated.
The fabric becomes another vehicle for Westwood's fascination with the relationship between heritage and rebellion.
That contrast is important.
A collection can be theatrical without every piece needing to be theatrical.
Sometimes the most effective statement comes from putting something familiar beside something extraordinary.
The Heatwave Question
There was also a serious idea underneath all the eccentricity.
Kronthaler's collection considers what fashion becomes in a world of rising temperatures and increasingly extreme heat.
The question posed in the show notes was simple:
“What will clothes become?”
It is an increasingly relevant question for designers and tailors alike.
Because warmer temperatures change the way people dress.
Heavy construction becomes uncomfortable.
Layering becomes more difficult.
Fabric selection becomes increasingly important.
And traditional ideas about seasonal wardrobes start to shift.
Westwood approaches the question not by abandoning style, but by questioning what clothing needs to do in the first place.
A Celebration of Life
Despite the serious questions surrounding the collection, there is an unmistakable sense of joy.
Colour.
Pattern.
Theatrical silhouettes.
Unexpected combinations.
Characters rather than simply models.
That is one of the great strengths of Westwood.
The clothes can carry a political or environmental message without becoming visually miserable.
They can be serious and joyful.
Rebellious and romantic.
Historical and completely contemporary.
The Casting
The casting reflected that attitude.
Natasha Lyonne, Farida Khelfa, Precious Lee and Yasmin Wijnaldum were among the faces bringing the collection to life, creating an intergenerational cast with very different personalities.
That feels particularly appropriate for Westwood.
The clothes aren't designed for one narrow idea of who should wear them.
They belong to personalities.
Characters.
People with something to say.
And perhaps that is more important than age, size or conventional fashion ideals.
The Westwood Suit ✂️
For us at A Hand Tailored Suit, the tailoring provides some of the most fascinating lessons in the collection.
Westwood demonstrates that tailoring can be structured without being predictable.
A jacket can still have a shoulder.
It can still have a lapel.
It can still have a waist.
It can still have the traditional bones of tailoring.
But the proportions can change.
The balance can shift.
The cloth can be unexpected.
The construction can be exposed.
And suddenly, the suit becomes something far more expressive.
That is the beauty of bespoke.
The fundamentals remain.
The interpretation is yours.
The Off The Cuff Take ✂️
Vivienne Westwood SS27 is a reminder that tailoring doesn't need permission to be rebellious.
The best tailoring isn't necessarily the most conservative.
It is the most considered.
The difference between a badly fitted eccentric jacket and a beautifully cut unconventional jacket is enormous.
One looks accidental.
The other looks intentional.
Westwood belongs firmly in the second category.
Every strange proportion, unexpected print and deliberately awkward silhouette feels like a decision.
And that is perhaps the biggest lesson for anyone interested in bespoke clothing:
Personality works best when it has structure underneath it.
You can experiment.
You can exaggerate.
You can challenge convention.
But the garment still has to be cut properly.
From Paris to the Cutting Table
There is also something very British about the Westwood approach to tailoring.
It understands the authority of traditional dress while simultaneously wanting to disrupt it.
The Savile Row jacket becomes punk.
The corset becomes outerwear.
Historical costume becomes modern fashion.
The check becomes rebellious.
And the suit becomes something much more than an office uniform.
That spirit remains incredibly relevant.
Because tailoring is not just about preserving tradition.
It is about continuing the conversation.
Every new suit adds another interpretation.
Another cut.
Another proportion.
Another personality.
And another chapter in the history of tailoring.
Body & Soul
Vivienne Westwood's Spring/Summer 2027 collection ultimately feels like a celebration of everything the house has always stood for.
History.
Rebellion.
Craftsmanship.
Politics.
Sexuality.
Humour.
Britishness.
And above all, individuality.
Andreas Kronthaler isn't attempting to recreate Vivienne's past.
He is continuing to ask the kinds of questions she would have asked.
What should clothing become?
What happens when convention is challenged?
How can history be made relevant again?
And how can fashion remain joyful when the world around it becomes increasingly complicated?
The answer, for SS27, is wonderfully Westwood.
Make it strange.
Make it beautiful.
Make it matter.
Watch Vivienne Westwood Spring/Summer 2027 🎥
Experience Andreas Kronthaler's “Body & Soul” collection and watch the full Vivienne Westwood Spring/Summer 2027 runway show from Paris.
Watch Vivienne Westwood Spring/Summer 2027 on YouTube
Off The Cuff ✂️
Vivienne Westwood has spent decades proving that tradition and rebellion aren't opposites.
Sometimes, they are the perfect partners.
Spring/Summer 2027 takes historical tailoring, African-inspired fabrics, punk attitude, corsetry and modern questions about climate — and throws them all into the same wonderfully chaotic wardrobe.
And somehow, it works.
Because that's the Westwood trick.
The clothes may look rebellious. The cut is anything but accidental.
A Little Off The Cuff… 😉
At A Hand Tailored Suit, we're perfectly happy to challenge convention.
Change the lapel.
Alter the shoulder.
Play with the cloth.
Push the proportions.
But if you ask us to make your suit asymmetrical, leopard print and inspired by a 17th-century jacket...
We'll probably need to sharpen the scissors first.
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— Off The Cuff A Hand Tailored Suit ✂️
