LONDON -- Call them protest panties.

Designer Vivienne Westwood returned to London Fashion Week after a nine-year absence, and one of her models wore the outspoken designer's political opinions where it would win a lot of attention -- on the tush.

Westwood protested the treatment of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, by having the lead model in her show wear orange and black underwear -- reminiscent of the fluorescent orange jumpsuits worn by detainees at the U.S. prison camps.

At the start of the show, the model strutted down the catwalk and turned provocatively to the assembled photographers to flash panties printed with the words:

``Fair trial my arse.''

The message was an apparent reference to U.S. plans to prosecute Guantánamo Bay prisoners at military commissions.

Inspiration for the bikini billboard came from the director of the legal charity Reprieve, Clive Stafford Smith, who was accused of smuggling underwear into Guantánamo Bay.

Backstage, Westwood said she hoped Illinois Sen. Barack Obama would be chosen as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate. She also showed off a necklace she was wearing that read: ``I'm not a terrorist, please don't arrest me.''

''I don't know if I will actually wear them,'' she said of the panties, which will retail for 35 pounds, or nearly $70, and come with handcuffs as accessories.

The underwear is a collaboration with her son, Joseph Corre, a founder of Agent Provocateur, the racy underwear clothing label.

''It's about people standing up and deciding what side of the fence they're on,'' Corre said. ``Hopefully they'll take a bit of notice. If not, they'll get a great pair of knickers.''

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@