Vivienne Westwood Rocks Cannes
Fashion designer and activist Vivienne Westwood caused a stir at Cannes as she encouraged delegates to question a ‘rotten financial system’ and a ‘global ethos’ that panders to the worst instincts of humanity.
Westwood, who spoke at the seminar ‘Stories are More Than a Narrative And Fashion is More than Design’ was joined on stage by Sapient Nitro’s global CCO Gaston Legorburu. The subversive designer received the biggest cheers of the week from the audience for her talk in which she encouraged delegates to cultivate a deeper understanding of the world and fight for change.
“If you want to do something about changing your life, you have to start going to galleries and reading more. I don’t mean reading the latest novel, but universal ideas,” said Westwood.
During the talk she also surprised the audience by explaining how she had rejected the destructive outlook of the punk mentality in favour of the historically-inspired pirate aesthetic of the new romantics. “I don’t think I achieved an awful lot. Punk was just another marketing opportunity to sell safety pins or whatever.”
At a later round-table discussion with a select group of journalists, Westwood expanded upon her worldview. Set against the backdrop of the Cannes Lions festival, in which the advertising industry gathers to learn about the very latest innovations, Westwood advocated learning from the past and taking time to absorb universal ideas. She suggested that the current media landscape can distract attention and inhibit the kind of deep thinking necessary for true creativity and world-improving ideas.
“I think there is pressure on people today to not get absorbed in things,” she said. “Talent is much, much rarer than people think. It’s this idea of being creative; people in the business of trying to sell things always want to know what the secret of being creative is. You’ve either got it or you haven’t. But definitely there is pressure to not cultivate your deep interest and just be distracted.”
The idea of feeding oneself intellectually and spiritually also fed into her theories on the nature of creativity. Originality, she argued, was present in the informed re-interpretation or translation of ‘universal ideas’.
“When I was a little girl I was constantly being praised for being creative,” she explained. “I always thought I was suffering under false pretences because I wasn’t being creative at all - I was just copying and it’s only God who’s creative. I didn’t understand what they meant. I think that’s still true. No one can make something out of nothing, but people think you somehow can… you start by copying and that can become a translation of an idea. That’s what people have been taught is wrong. They’ve been told that they shouldn’t be inspire by things, they should be inspired by whatever it is that’s inside them.”
She also criticised the throwaway pop culture of the 21st century, which she had argued in her talk encouraged people to jump quickly to opinions rather than allow them to form over time.
“I used to teach in Berlin. I used to send them [the students] to the art galleries… I’d say ‘before you go into the next room, decide which picture you’d take if a fire alarm rung. If you keep going in six months’ time you wouldn’t choose the same picture, you’d choose another’. It is about discrimination. This is how you build your interest in things and start to understand the difference between what’s absolutely great and what’s not quite so important and what’s not so good. Discrimination is the root of human intelligence.”
During the hour’s discussion Westwood showcased that sense of judgement, with modern art and Andy Warhol in particular singled out for attention. “I wouldn’t know what to do with an Andy Warhol if someone gave it to me. I certainly wouldn’t put it on my wall. I suspect you would have to try and sell it. I know you’re not supposed to burn books and things like that – but I would have to put it in the rubbish because I think it’s of no use to anybody.”
Towards the end of the discussion, Westwood began to link her ideas about creativity and effectiveness to her thoughts about politics and business. She argued that the current financial system with its focus on profits above all else was ultimately destructive. Of course, as a successful business woman with a multi-million dollar brand this did lead to the inevitable question of how Westwood reconciles her commercial interests with her political activism.
“In my own company, it is expanding at a rate where I think it’s out of control and I’ve told my manager ‘no more’,” she said. “I don’t want any more shops in China; I don’t want to expand any more. We have to go right back all through the company regarding quality not quantity. That has got to be based on the things I like, not just spin-offs. One of the keys to what we’re all talking about is quality not quantity. It’s better for the environment.”
With her emphasis on looking to the past, taking time to cultivate opinions and encouraging the listeners to reduce consumption, much of what Westwood discussed was contrary to many of the prevailing trends discussed at the festival, which emphasise responsiveness and constant connection. But then one wouldn’t expect anything less from the Queen of Punks and inventor of the anarchy symbol – and one suspects that it was thanks to this subtle subversion that she received one of the loudest cheers of the day.
