Vivienne Westwood exhibition

Iconic stage shoes that Naomi fell in to go on exhibition in fresh Vivienne Westwood show

A couple of shoes which toppled catwalk queen Naomi Campbell will form part of an display celebrating British style designer Vivienne Westwood.

The fashion model fell while wearing the blue, platform-heeled Super Elevated Gillie shoes at a catwalk display in 1993.

The handmade mock-crocodile skin shoes, which have nine-inch heels, are the star attraction at the exhibition, which opens at the Bowes Museum in County Durham tomorrow.

People have only one month to catch the display before it travels to Japan, New York and China.

The display, celebrating the ingenuity and creativity of Vivienne Westwood shoes from 1973-2011, has already made its way to Moscow and Beirut.

Joanna Hashagen, keeper of textiles at the Bowes Museum, said: ‘The display shows the sheer range of Vivienne Westwood’s creative energies.

‘She is always pushing boundaries and trying something fresh.

‘We all know about how fantastic her outfits are, but this is the first time anyone has really focused on her shoe collection.

‘They are just staggering – and they are made from everything; anything you could think of.

‘When you see them, you see they are sculptures, they are works of art in themselves.’

Westwood opened an exhibition of lace for the museum, in Barnard Castle, in 2006.

Since then the museum has opened a new gallery to allow it to showcase the fresh exhibition.

Mrs. Hashagen said: ‘She is very, very interested in historic textiles. She used the V&A historic textile collection when she was elder and thinks that people should, and designers should, be motivated by them and by museums.

‘She came in 2006 and revealed this absolute hidden gem of a museum and offered me a collection of shoes to display, and we couldn’t because we did not have a gallery.

‘But now we do. It is the most wonderful exhibition. We are so happy.’

Along with around 200 shoe designs, the retrospective will trace the success of Dame Westwood’s career to date.

Westwood’s shoes have gained a status and created memorable style moments in the past, from Naomi Campbell’s catwalk tumble, to Westwood’s iconic Pirate Boots, first seen in 1981 which remain popular and in demand to the present-day.