Vivienne Westwood’s own clothing to be auctioned in June

Vivienne Westwood’s personal wardrobe is going up for auction in London, including ballgowns, tweed suits and more.

The live sale takes place on 25 June and there will also be an online auction running for two weeks from 14 June, plus a free exhibition open to the public at Christie’s on King Street from 14-24 June.

The more-than-200 lots being auctioned by Christie’s include pieces from historic collections and jewellery and accessories aa well as clothing.

Christie’s said the sale is without precedent… a once-in-a-lifetime thing”.

The items being sold were selected by her husband and design partner Andreas Kronthaler who’d discussed the idea of the auction with her in the weeks before she died in 2022.

The earliest pieces on sale come from her AW83 Witches collection that was partly inspired by Keith Haring’s drawings.

There are also overtly political pieces from her SS05 Propaganda collection, as well as less thematic pieces, all pulled together into complete looks rather than standalone garments.

Some garments still have very personal reminders that these were Westwood’s own clothes with items like badges left in place.

It’s interesting too that Westwood was an early supporter of the repair movement and items also show signs of repair, a number of them having been mended multiple times.

Proceeds from the sale will go to The Vivienne Foundation, Amnesty International and Médecins Sans Frontières.