London Fashion Week: Kate Middleton Should Recycle Her Outfits More, Says Dame Vivienne Westwood

Why Does Vivienne Westwood Think Kate Should Stop Buying Clothes?

Fashion icon Dame Vivienne Westwood has called on the Duchess of Cambridge to stop buying so many different outfits and instead make more of an effort to be environmentally friendly.

Before her London Fashion Week showcase at the Saatchi Gallery today, Dame Vivienne said that when Kate goes to so much effort to get an outfit that looks good, she should wear it more often.

The designer, who believes in quality over quantity, disapproves of Kate's expansive wardrobe.

She said: "I don't have any advice to her, except I think it would be great if she wore the same clothes over and again, because that's very good for the environment and it would send out a very nice message.

"If you're going to all that trouble to get an outfit that suits you, then you should keep on wearing it.

"I mean you don't have to have a red outfit one day and then something almost the same in blue the next."

Westwood, dressed in her usual wacky style with an image of Julian Assange on her T-shirt, said Suday's Red Label collection also carried the theme of quality over quantity - but that does not mean less glamour.

"It's for anybody that wants to dress up quite wonderfully glamorous.

"All I can say is it's quite a short collection this time because what I'm trying to aim for in my second line and all my offshoot products is to just keep aiming for quality all the time and have less quantity.

"I'm just trying to do a quality choice for people to wear something that really helps them to look good.

"That's what fashion is here for. It's here to help," she said.

The show saw models move through various rooms in the contemporary art gallery and featured perhaps a more toned-down Westwood style.

Her trademark structured dresses were evident, along with gold boots, prints, metallics and velvet heels.

The models wore dramatic make-up with painted eyebrows and various colours of lip-liner on top of their white powdered faces - framed with glamorous curls.

The show was attended by Fashion Week regulars Peaches Geldof and Jodie Kidd, and after the show Kidd was full of praise for what Westwood had to offer.

She said: "I thought it was brilliant and I just loved the combination of the colours, the tights, the clothes, the shoes, the bags, the tailoring.

"I just wanted absolutely every single piece, which is very rare for me. I just loved this collection. I thought it was fabulous."

The statuesque blonde said while it may have been less dramatic than the Westwood designs of previous years, the flair was still there and that it was important to remember the evolving nature of fashion.

She added: "There were bits in there - you know like the sequinned pants.

"But, you know, when I used to do Vivienne it used to be boobs and great big dresses and things like that.

"But, you know, fashion moves, it evolves. Designers have to go with it and I think she's really nailed it."

Before the show, Geldof said she was expecting it to be "slightly mental", but said that is "the charm of Westwood".

She said of Westwood's style: "It's really haphazard and sort of all over the place, which I think is what Vivienne's mindset is like, and I really like that the clothes are such a reflection of her and her personality, and it's really playful and fun."

Other big shows taking place today in various locations across the capital include Mulberry, Temperley London and Matthew Williamson.

After his show tonight, Williamson expressed his opposition to Westwood's comments on Kate, who has been pictured wearing his designs.

"She has a lot to do doesn't she? So she needs a good wardrobe. So, no, I disagree," he said.

Williamson's Royal Opera House show was attended by famous faces such as Twiggy, model Daisy Lowe, US socialite Olivia Palermo, designer Zandra Rhodes and the pinnacle of the fashion hierarchy - American Vogue editor Anna Wintour.

The magazine queen was surrounded by a pack of photographers as she arrived at the show in Covent Garden, and spoke of what she expected from Williamson's show.

"I guess colours, prints," she said.

Asked how he felt about having such an influential person scrutinising his latest designs, Williamson did not seem fazed.

"It's great that she came. I don't know if it's nerve-wrecking, but I'm thrilled that she was here," he said.

With a runway show packed with colourful pieces set off by lashings of embellishment, Wintour's expectations were surely met.

The designer said he was aiming for an "English Rose" look with some inspiration derived from the Northern Lights.

There were stripes and florals, wrap-over and pleated skirts, statement necklaces, party dresses, evening gowns and smart winter coats.

The show ended with model of the moment Cara Delevingne leading the girls back out onto the catwalk as fake snow fell from the Royal Opera House roof.

Twiggy was full of praise for the collection after the show, describing it as "absolutely gorgeous".

"He's so talented. His use of colour is the best. I don't know anyone who does colour better than Matthew... and I want about 10 things, so I'll have to save up," she said.

She added: "I never miss Matthew. If I'm in London I always make Matthew's show because I think he's brilliant and I love him," she said.

Before the show began, Rhodes took her seat with great anticipation for what was to come.

"He always has lovely prints. He was my intern once, years ago.

"He was a very conscientious intern," she said.

Fashion icon Palermo said Williamson always uses beautiful fabrics, adding: "Last fall he used Indian fabrics."

Palermo said London Fashion Week is about seeing lots of different things.

"Whenever I hit the runway shows, I look for a bit of everything," she said.

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