Install shots of Vivienne Westwood Rebel - Storyteller - Visionary at The Bowes Museum, 2026. Photographer Claire Collinson

Last chance to see fashion icon Vivienne Westwood designs in stunning North East setting

by · ChronicleLive

There are just two weeks remaining to see a showcase of extraordinary work by punk fashion pioneer Vivienne Westwood before it comes to a close. As previously reported, blockbuster show Vivienne Westwood: Rebel - Storyteller - Visionary opened at The Bowes Museum in County Durham in March, charting the extraordinary journey of the radical and provocative designer who died in 2022 at the age of 81.

The outfits on display there, created between the 1980s and 2000 and including some which have never been on show before, reflect Westwood's energy and rebellious nature and have been a huge hit with visitors to the museum in Barnard Castle throughout the run. Now that run is coming to an end, with the show set to close on September 6.

Its last days - which also include a 'Spotlight' tour of the exhibition, led by a curator, on September 3 - offer a final chance to see around 40 outfit ensembles charting the designer’s career. The exhibits run through multiple galleries of the stunning museum which is built in the style of a 17th Century French chateau - and whose permanent attractions include 1773 mechanical masterpiece the Silver Swan - making up a major retrospective of the late designer's work.

Laid out in the style of an 'atelier' - a designer's workshop - with touches of catwalk glamour, it also features the calico 'toiles '- practice pattern versions - and garments digitally deconstructed by Northumbria University's fashion department, revealing Westwood’s construction techniques, including bias-cutting, pleating, screen-printing and distressing of fabrics.

Westwood, who twice won the British fashion designer of the year title in the nineties, memorably joined forces with designer and punk band manager Malcolm McLaren earlier in her career and her range of work spanned reinvention of historical dress and corsets to her protest T-shirts of the early 2000s. The exhibits - including loans from other cultural venues - are set out chronologically, alongside accessories, jewellery and items from a private collector, Peter Smithson, whose first introduction to the designer's work was the sight of a man wearing a suit with tartan trousers.

There are also historic objects, such as gilded mirror frames, from the museum collection in the show. Last visitors to it will also have a chance to see three flags which were designed by Northumberland artist Meg Fletcher to accompany the exhibition and capture Westwood's spirit and visual legacy along with the pioneering vision of the museum’s co-founder Joséphine Bowes.

For tickets to see the show before it ends on September 6 see here. The September 3 tour, the last in a series of events to complement the exhibition, will be led by Rachel Whitworth, curator of fashion and textiles. Beginning at 11am on the day, it will be included in the museum admission price.

The exhibition Vivienne Westwood Rebel - Storyteller - Visionary is at The Bowes Museum until September 6. Photographer Claire Collinson
The exhibition charts the journey of the designer's career. Photographer Claire Collinson
Westwood was known for provactive and imaginative designs. Credit: Claire Collinson
Curators of the exhibition Vivienne Westwood Rebel - Storyteller - Visionary at The Bowes Museum. Photographer Claire Collinson
The exhibition includes items, artefacts and jewellery from a private collector and the museum's own archives. Credit: Claire Collinson
Around 40 'ensembles' are included. Credit: Claire Collinson
Westwood left behind a vast catalogue of work before her death in 2022. Credit: Claire Collinson