Vivienne Westwood took the chance to spread a political message during her runway show at Paris Fashion Week yesterday.

Even before the anti-propoganda show began the 66 year old Dame was seen handing out copies of her latest mainfesto,"Active Resistance to Propaganda", to an amused front row.

The anti-government theme continued as Westwood's models appeared wrapped in T-shirts and silk blankets printed with "56", which is the maximum number of days the government reportedly wants to hold terror suspects, doubling the current limit.

Westwood's signature hour glass figure was displayed through layers of printed fabric nipped in at the waist with heavy gem covered belts. Messy bed head hair and smeared make up accompanied the effortless chic of the designs to give the impression of a modern politically charged women who has no time for perfectly defined style.

After the show Westwood continued her political mission by having a pop at Prime Minister Gordon Brown: "I'll be voting against him, definitely. Anything to get him out," she said.

Westwood also accused Brown of behaving like a "tyrant" and said the measures would not help to protect British citizens against terrorism. "We need people (in court) in front of the law - this will protect me," she said.

This isn't the first time Westwood has used fashion to inspire political protest. For several years, she has been calling for the release of Leonard Peltier, an American Indian Movement activist convicted of killing two FBI agents in a shootout on a South Dakota reservation in 1975.

Her Spring/Summer 08 collection did the job of portraying her anti-government message but doesn't Westwood realise we are more interested in her fantastic design talents than her political ranting? It's a shame that her divine new collection was over-shadowed by issues we would rather escape from once in a while.

Caz Moss- Female First
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