If the invite for Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection didn’t discernibly read the word “France ”, onlookers mightn’t have believed the folklorish presentation was staged during the closing end of Paris Fashion Week.

Vivienne Westwood’s designs have never been tethered to a singular place. Instead, the late designer’s body of work has served as manifestos of histories, with epochs and ideals fused by rebellion and innovation. Such was the case for Kronthaler’s third season alone at the label’s helm. Unmoored by the time and place of the collection, the luxuriate presented 43 looks inspired by 16th Century Italianate artistry, pagan performances and a Lord Of The Rings-esque punk fantasy. (The latter you’ve no doubt seen making the rounds as modelled by musician Sam Smith.) Indeed, a renaissance fitting for the new era of Westwood’s anthology.

Don’t let the lack of Savile Row suiting fool you, the collection’s title “The Tailor” was a fitting epithet for a collection inspired by historical reconstructions. The work of Mannerism painter Giovanni Battista Moroni, specifically a portrait of an outfitter titled ‘Il Tagliapanni’, served as a jumping-off point for Kronthaler to examine the wares of the 1500s and the place they hold in both his and Westwood’s own narrative. (The pair first mentioned this work in a collection designed in the early 90s.)

To the tunes of Austrian performance troupe Sons of Sissy—which included the drone of horns and slapping of their bodies in the form of campy bottom percussion—Kronthaler expertly married antiquities and mediaeval garments with a forward-thinking attitude. Similar to how science fiction presents a view of the world so ahead it’s almost a reflection of the past, Kronthaler evoked a futurism not rooted in nostalgia, like his contemporaries are doing, but an era so far removed from the now it’s ripe to be revived.

The personal adornments of yore saturated the collection through sculptural breastplates, unbuttoned doublets (a type of men’s jacket displayed in Moroni’s aforementioned artwork), chevalier boots, and soft draping often exhibited in Renaissance artworks. Jacopo Pontormo’s ‘The Deposition from the Cross’, which Jonothan Anderson also referenced for Loewe’s SS22 collection, calls to mind in the subtle suspension of nylon jackets and turquoise lace. (The latter worn by Lila Moss).

Other references to historical dress came in voluminous sleeves reflective of the Tudor period, Mediaeval tights and calls to Westwood’s Anglomania era in Harris Tweed coats and towering tartan footwear. Yet, none so omnipresent as the codpiece. (The precursor to the jockstrap which was designed as a piece of cloth worn to protect—and perhaps draw attention to—men’s genitalia).

These pieces weren’t overtly grotesque, but rather a tongue-in-cheek addition to the collection’s vocabulary, especially when fashioned into bum bags and fanny packs. This idea of reiterating function through fashion’s past also played into the athleisure that was present in the collection, especially when these antique designs mingled with modern sportswear like lycra bike shorts. Elsewhere, knitted sweaters nicked at the abs evoked a body-conscious jock uniform.

Ultimately, this collection was about looking to the past and recontextualising conventional norms with a sense of humour and controversy. “At one point the men really let it all hang out,” Kronthaler said backstage, as reported by WWD. Though the tastes of today have certainly evolved past these shrewd attitudes, Vivienne Westwood finds its strength in subverting standards and archetypes, both now and forever. Back to the future, we go.

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