Vivienne Westwood brings certain adjectives to mind: sophisticated, edgy, a little bit punk, and definitely intrinsically British. Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood spring/summer 2022 keeps these cornerstones in hand, but in an entirely different way.

At Paris Fashion Week, Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood presented a collection of destructured garments against intense, epic music. The husband of Westwood settled his collection largely in a palette of white, black and shades of pink, accessorizing with intricate headscarves or large pearl drop earrings (as is per order for Vivienne Westwood). The result—a more casual, reigned in side of Vivienne Westwood, still undeniably true to the label, but without the loudness, the eclecticism, the dynamics between posh and punk that are core to Westwood’s designs.

What Vivienne Westwood has always excelled in is making rebellious fashion—mismatched prints, loud graphics, vibrant colors—but making them sophisticated, clean, elevated while fun. And while the clean cuts and precise tailoring core to the label stayed true in the collection, gone are the fun prints and bold colors, like the iconic purple and yellow plaid of autumn/winter 2021.

Instead, the heavily draped and tailored pieces centralize around a drastic destructuring, with oversized fits sharply contrasting Westwood’s signature corseting, cut-outs where there used to be pleats and a general unfinished look, as though the fabrics—undeniably Vivienne Westwood—escaped the design studio unfinished.

The elevated connotations of Vivienne Westwood are pushed backward with this collection, lost between giant tees made up of two different prints—a thrift store favorite, when they’re found, not a Vivienne Westwood icon—and blue boots that turn into pants, in turn becoming suspenders. For what may be the first time, a Vivienne Westwood collection is incohesive, and appears incomplete; if you squint, the core of the label is retained, but, aside from select looks, is buried beneath kitschy patterns and a sense of wrongness.

The standout looks in the collection, then, are the ones which show Kronthaler’s hand in its own distinctive right as a designer, while still being something fitting for Vivienne Westwood. An oversized, structured ecru blazer with pronounced shoulders recalls the British influences of the label, while a lacy red dress over a white bodysuit exudes the sleek sexiness Westwood’s garments are known for. At the other end of the collection, a chic, fitted coat with a tied waist is Westwood grunge for a contemporary audience, and an asymmetrical white corset dress overlaid with black tulle is the star of the show, a clear continuity of Vivienne Westwood, reinterpreted at the hands of Andreas Kronthaler.

For spring/summer 2022, Vivienne Westwood isn’t restructured—just redesigned.