- Play Hard
- 22nd Jul 2026
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The Bowes Museum hosts a major Vivienne Westwood exhibition this summer
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A major Vivienne Westwood exhibition showcases at The Bowes Museum this summer, and it’s shaping up to be one of the biggest fashion moments the North East’s seen in years.
Vivienne Westwood: Rebel, Storyteller, Visionary is running until Sunday 6th September 2026, bringing more than 40 full ensembles plus individual garments, accessories, jewellery and ephemera to Barnard Castle.
It’s the first major retrospective of its kind to land in the region, tracing Westwood’s work from the early 1980s right through to the 2000s, with never-before-seen pieces from private collections alongside loans from Manchester Art Gallery and Fashion Museum Bath.
STEP INSIDE A WORKING WESTWOOD ATELIER
The Fashion and Textiles gallery’s been reworked to feel like a genuine atelier, rolls of fabric, a sewing machine, pin cushions and tailoring shears all part of the set. Calico toiles sit next to garments digitally deconstructed by Northumbria University’s Fashion Department, pulling apart Westwood’s construction techniques piece by piece. You’ll see bias cutting, pleating, screen printing and distressed fabrics laid bare, the sort of detail that shows exactly why she broke the rules the way she did.
A CHRONOLOGICAL WALK THROUGH THREE ERAS
In the main exhibition space, the curatorial design nods to traditional salon hangs, corsets and T-shirts on walls alongside panelling, paintings and mirrors from The Bowes Museum’s own collection. The pieces run chronologically from the mid-1980s through to the protest T-shirts of the early 2000s, charting the label’s evolution across the Worlds End years, the Westwood years and the Kronthaler years. Along the way you’ll spot the milestones that shaped the brand: the introduction of the orb, British Fashion Designer of the Year in 1990 and 1991, Westwood’s marriage to Andreas Kronthaler, and the restructure into the Gold and Red labels.
A PERSONAL CONNECTION TO COUNTY DURHAM
Westwood was a lifelong student of historical dress, and she actually visited The Bowes Museum back in 2006. This exhibition leans into that link, putting more than 80 historic objects from the museum’s own collection next to her designs to draw out shared themes. The gilded mirror frames in the museum’s collection echo the theatrical picture frame Westwood’s models emerged from in Voyage to Cythera (A/W 1989/90), while pieces from Portrait (A/W 1990/91), inspired by eighteenth-century art, sit beside Pierre Jacques Cazes’s (1676–1754) La Naissance de Vénus, The Triumph of Venus, with its putti imagery echoed throughout her work.
WORKSHOPS AND TALKS RUN ALONGSIDE THE EXHIBITION
There’s a full public programme running alongside the exhibition too, including workshops where visitors can have a go at the techniques Westwood herself used, plus talks from Peter Smithson digging deeper into his own collection. Worth building a day around if you’re heading over to Barnard Castle, museum, atelier and events programme all in one trip.
Frequently asked questions
When does the Vivienne Westwood exhibition run?
It opened on 28th March 2026 and runs until 6th September 2026.
Where is Bowes Museum?
Bowes Museum is in Barnard Castle, County Durham.
The Bowes Museum opening times?
It’s open daily from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, including Bank Holiday
Is Bowes Museum dog-friendly?
Dogs on leads are welcome across the 22-acre grounds and parkland at The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle. While pets are not permitted inside the main museum building, guide and assistance dogs are warmly welcomed indoors
Rachael Ellis
Head of Content
After gaining a first in her BA Media and Journalism degree at Northumbria University, Rachael worked at Newcastle’s leading regional newspaper with her stories being picked up in national and global newspapers. She spent two very successful years giving a voice to those communities across the North East who otherwise…
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