Vivienne Westwood’s 1st Jewelry Exhibition in Shanghai: How Cultural Storytelling Powers the Brand

In a striking tribute to its four-decade legacy in jewelry design, Vivienne Westwood has launched its first large-scale public jewelry exhibition in Asia, She and Her Jewels, at Taikoo Li Qiantan in Shanghai.

This immersive showcase highlights the brand’s most iconic jewelry pieces across the past 40 years—each one a window into Vivienne Westwood’s radical aesthetic and activist spirit. Choosing Shanghai as the first stop underscores the brand’s confidence in China’s cultural and commercial importance, and its ambition to deepen emotional resonance in this pivotal market.

Jingzhi Chronicle sat down with CEO Carlo D’Amario to explore how jewelry encapsulates the brand’s values, aesthetics, and strategy for growth in China.

How Jewelry Expresses the Brand’s Worldview

The exhibition opens with an immersive video room—layered footage tracing Vivienne Westwood’s life, her fashion activism, and enduring provocations on power, society, and sustainability. These aren’t mere slogans, but principles that have defined the brand since its earliest days.

From there, visitors journey through themed chambers instead of a chronological path—Origin, Parure, Wonderland, Do It Yourself, Exploration, The Orb, and Miscellany. This nonlinear curation reflects the brand’s creative map since the 1970s, allowing each piece of jewelry to speak within its own ideological and aesthetic context.

Some pieces are elegantly spread in horizontal displays, others encased at various heights in glass vitrines, evoking the texture of a museum. But this is no ordinary showcase—the jewelry here is loaded with symbolism, commentary, and rebellion. Each object is a response to questions about gender, status, and social order.

Reclaiming Symbols of Power: From History to the Orb

In the Parure section, the exhibition dismantles the idea of aristocratic jewelry. Brass, papier-mâché, and faux pearls replace traditional diamonds and precious metals, subverting conventional luxury codes and challenging notions of value.

In Do It Yourself, the focus returns to the individual. A self-taught designer, Vivienne Westwood championed fashion as democratic. This is where the 1983 Punkature spoon earring and the Garance necklace—composed of repurposed old jewelry—reside. They reflect an anti-consumerist stance and a celebration of independent creation.

“Vivienne’s work was never just about punk,” Carlo D’Amario shares. “Her imagination also drew from the grandeur of the 17th-century courts. She saw historical references as fertile ground—not to replicate, but to critique and reimagine.”

Jewelry as Cultural Expression, Not Just Decoration

“Jewelry has always been a core part of the Vivienne Westwood universe—not a spin-off of our fashion line,” Carlo emphasized.

In fact, before fashion, there was jewelry. In the 1960s, Vivienne Westwood studied silversmithing at Harrow School of Art and sold handmade jewelry to make a living. Even after launching her first boutique with Malcolm McLaren in 1971, jewelry remained central to her design language.

Westwood’s use of safety pins, studs, leather, and oversized motifs in jewelry was a deliberate contrast to conventional elegance. These were not accessories for status—they were provocations, statements, and, most importantly, symbols of cultural identity.

The Orb Becomes a Symbolic Icon in Chinese Youth Culture

The final section of the exhibition centers on The Orb—the planet-like crown insignia introduced in 1987’s Harris Tweed collection. Displayed in a tree-shaped structure, it’s presented not just as a design but as a worldview. Fusing royal symbolism with science fiction imagination, The Orb projects the past and future simultaneously.

In China, this icon has taken on an unexpected second life. On platforms like Xiaohongshu, The Orb has been given a quasi-mystical meaning by Gen Z users—its “lucky” aura reinforcing the brand’s cultural appeal in China.

Searches for #VivienneWestwoodJewelry have reached nearly 100 million views, revealing its potency as both a fashion item and an emotional symbol.

Why Jewelry Is a Strategic Growth Driver in China

From a commercial standpoint, jewelry plays a crucial role in Vivienne Westwood’s China strategy. With lower price points, strong visibility, and frequent product refreshes, jewelry serves as an accessible gateway for young consumers.

The numbers speak volumes. Between 2023 and 2024, jewelry sales in China grew 600% according to the brand, alongside handbags as the primary growth engines. In today’s post-logo era, jewelry’s emotional and expressive qualities have become key currency among Chinese consumers.

Carlo sees jewelry’s power in its universality: “Jewelry predates fashion. It’s about identity, storytelling, and legacy. It’s something I would pass down to my children. It carries weight, literally and metaphorically.”

Cultural Storytelling Is the Brand’s Lasting Power

Vivienne Westwood’s approach to cultural marketing isn’t trend-driven. It is principle-led. Sustainability, social commentary, and craftsmanship were part of the brand’s identity long before they became buzzwords.

In 2023, the brand was invited to close Shanghai Fashion Week with 62 looks—a bold statement of commitment to the China market. This was followed by executive visits to Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, culminating in the She and Her Jewels exhibition’s debut in Shanghai in 2024.

By resisting the temptation to pander to “localization” and instead building authentic cultural dialogue, the brand is carving out a space that resonates deeply with a new generation of Chinese consumers seeking meaning beyond materialism.

As luxury shifts from status to storytelling, from product to purpose, brands like Vivienne Westwood—with a strong “cultural skeleton” as Carlo puts it—may be best positioned to thrive. Jewelry, in this light, is not just decoration. It’s a vessel of values.