vivienne westwood ss 2026 | paradise lost

Just weeks after Andreas Kronthaler sent his opulent, joy-filled ‘Boudoir’ collection down the Paris runway – a theatrical dream of Mediterranean sun and sensual draping – the house of Vivienne Westwood has now unveiled its mainline Spring/Summer 2026 collection. And it serves as the season’s dark, rebellious conscience.

Where Kronthaler’s runway show was a celebration of life, the new mainline collection, shot in an empty, shadow-filled Parisian house with a wild, overgrown garden, is a haunting look at its decay.

The collection operates on a ‘Garden of Eden’ theme, but this is Eden after the fall. The romance is there, but it’s raw and undone. Delicate florals and natural, undyed fabrics are presented in their purest form, a classic Westwood move that rejects artificial processing. Gossamer-light knitwear is designed to hint at the naked body beneath, while tailoring and dresses arrive deliberately rumpled, as if they’ve been lived in, slept in and loved in.

This romantic deconstruction is given a sharp, punk jolt with the inclusion of aggressive miniskirts and micro-shorts, reminding us which house this is. The collection also clearly dialogues with its runway counterpart; several evening wear pieces are direct adaptations from Kronthaler’s recent show, translating his high-fashion shapes into sharp black serge, glittering sequins, and romantic, shredded swathes of crushed taffeta.

But the collection’s true political heart and perhaps its most potent message is delivered via a new print by the artist and frequent collaborator, Dominic Myatt. Titled ‘Paradise,’ the print is a brutal subversion of the name. It depicts no lush idyll, but a tarnished utopia: a beautiful landscape decaying and littered with trash.

It is a ‘paradise lost,’ a direct and uncompromising commentary on the environmental crisis that was Dame Westwood’s core activist mission. This bleakly beautiful graphic is printed across the collection, from floating georgette dresses and shirts to everyday felpa (jersey), ensuring the activist message is as inescapable as the pollution it depicts.

While Kronthaler’s runway show proved the house’s capacity for joy and theatrical beauty, this mainline collection confirms its activist spirit remains as untamed and necessary as ever. It’s a perfect, poignant balance: one collection celebrates the paradise we dream of, while the other forces us to confront the one we are so busy destroying.

Discover the collection here.

photography. courtesy of Bella Newman
words. Gennaro Costanzo