Opening at V&A Dundee in 2027, ‘Vivienne Westwood & Jewellery’ brings together four decades of archive pieces, runway jewels and the designer’s unmistakable visual language.
A pearl necklace can carry rebellion, history and theatrical excess at once. That tension always lived inside Vivienne Westwood, and now V&A Dundee will dedicate a major exhibition to the jewellery that shaped the house’s identity. Opening on 26 March 2027, ‘Vivienne Westwood & Jewellery’ explores how jewels became one of the brand’s most powerful forms of expression.
Curated by the Vivienne Westwood team, the exhibition brings together four decades of archive and runway jewellery displayed as a collection for the first time. Garments, catwalk imagery, sound, graphic wall collages and video will build an immersive view of the Westwood universe, where jewellery acts as language, gesture and attitude.
The exhibition also highlights Westwood’s relationship with Scotland through archive looks, textiles and cultural references linked to the designer’s long fascination with tartan. Andreas Kronthaler, creative director of Vivienne Westwood, has described Scotland as a place held in both his and Vivienne’s hearts, recalling his own MacAndreas tartan as one of the first things he made after arriving in London.
Oversized pearls, planetary symbols, historical references and royal codes reworked through punk irreverence became part of Westwood’s way of giving meaning to the body. In this exhibition, jewellery appears as an essential part of the Vivienne Westwood look: decorative, political, theatrical and unmistakably alive.
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