She was the first fashion type to take the stage at the annual Hay Festival of Literature in Wales - and boy did Dame Vivienne Westwood give her listeners an earful. Much to the packed audience's dismay, the punk princess turned political activist didn't want to talk fashion at all. Instead, she laid out a "cultural manifesto," weaving together elements from "Alice in Wonderland," "Pinocchio" and Greek philosophy into a diatribe about what art is - or maybe isn't. Whatever it was, it was hard to follow - even for an audience used to sitting through some heavy-duty political, scientific and cultural debate. Actress Diana Quick, who was moderating the event, tried in vain to steer the conversation back toward frocks, but Westwood insisted that subject bored her. Some people marched out of the tent, those who didn't were left bewildered. And - true to form - Westwood succeeded in becoming the talking point (so far) of the weeklong festival, which runs until June 3. One audience member was overheard calling Westwood "mental" - and that certainly wouldn't have been the first time the word was used to describe fashion's flame-haired enigma. For those who missed it, there is more to come: Dame Vivienne plans to publish the manifesto on her Web site, and - get ready - Brian Grazer has recently bought the rights to her life story...from WWD posted by Niko @ 6:53 AM 0 comments
