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he Rainforest Squiggle is an abstract and free flowing interpretation of the iconic Squiggle print – first seen in Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s debut catwalk collection Pirate in 1981. The Rainforest Squiggle, featured in Cole & Son x Vivienne Westwood, was first presented in the Autumn-Winter 2014/15 Gold Label Save the Rainforest runway collection. Vivienne and Andreas referenced master couturier Charles Frederick Worth, combined with influences from the Asháninka, a Peruvian tribe living in the rainforests which they visited in 2013 with Cool Earth. The runway show itself represented the fight for the environment – namely, to save the Asháninka’s rainforest by 2020.

Cole & Son’s artists took the graphic layout of the Rainforest Squiggle motif and saw the chance to infuse the design with an element of hand-craft by painting it in one continuous duo-toned brushstroke. The result is a simple yet bold contemporary wall mural that exudes a vibrant energy. The meandering layout allows the eye to travel throughout the composition in an unending loop where the journey of the artist’s hand is never broken.

Colourings include bright palettes of Crimson & Lipstick on Parchment and Navy & Cerulean on Stone with monochromatic Charcoal & Soot on Cream, White & Grey on Charcoal, and Soft Grey & Dove on Chalk. A stately Rouge & Burgundy on Soft Blue completes the selection.

The subversion of striped fabrication has been a recurring theme in the collections of Vivienne Westwood from the early years. The painted stripe was seen in collections from the 1980s, often in the background or overprinted in designs seen during the punk era. Most recently the True-Punk Stripe has evolved and featured in the Vivienne Westwood Autumn-Winter 2025/26 collection, seen on oversized shirting.

Cole & Son’s translation into a wallcovering retains the overprinting method which shows the original hand-painted quality of the stripe, as well as the texture of the material it was painted on.

True-Punk Stripe complements the collection’s other designs in tonal hues of Soft White and Muted Duck Egg along with the more quintessential Vivienne Westwood Denim and Khaki palettes.

Absence of Roses is a print synonymous with the Vivienne Westwood house, first seen as an illustrative rose motif in the Spring-Summer 1994 Gold Label Café Society collection. The Roses print was originally inspired by painter and botanist to Marie Antoinette, Pierre-Joseph Redouté and later seen as a silhouette print in the Absence of Roses iteration.

For the Cole & Son x Vivienne Westwood collection, the Absence of Roses print features the classic Cole & Son Moiré as its ground, giving the wallpaper a depth, movement and rich heritage associated with that of a Westwood gown. Moiré, a design still within the Cole & Son portfolio today, was created by the design house’s founder to fill the need for wallpaper that replicated the appearance of silk wallcoverings. With this he was at the forefront of innovation developing the design using crushed pearl pigments, known as mica, to simulate the lustre of silk. The resulting combination of the two prints is a romantic wallpaper that envelops whatever room it adorns in a silk jacquard-like effect.

Colourings of Pewter and Brass reference the moodier sensibilities of the Vivienne Westwood house, as well as the pure Silk White of the bridal couture they have come to be synonymous with.