Vivienne Westwood's Spring Campaign Takes On Climate Change

Celebrities are no strangers to philanthropic causes, but Vivienne Westwood’s new campaign goes above and beyond — the fashion designer wants to save a whole city. Her new spring campaign is shot in Venice to highlight the city’s unique susceptibility to climate change.

The ad campaign, called “Mirror The World,” will highlight the effect of mass tourism and the steady creep of climate change on sensitive ecosystems, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The ads were shot around the Italian canal city’s various palazzos and waterways, bringing attention to the beauty that’s at stake.

Venice is extremely endangered by climate change. The city has slowly been sinking for decades, due to a combination of shaky foundations, rising sea levels, and the Venetian population’s withdrawal of groundwater from beneath its foundations. According to the BBC, the city is sliding eastwards into the sea at a rate of about two millimeters a year. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but as sea levels rise, the effects could ruin the city.

Westwood spoke about the campaign to The Hollywood Reporter, saying that Venice would be only one of the first great losses to climate change. “If we can’t save Venice, how do we save the world?” she said.


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