Julian Assange is designer Vivienne Westwood's latest fashion statement

British designer Vivienne Westwood showcased more than her fashion designs at London Fashion Week by sporting a Julian Assange T-shirt in support of the WikiLeaks founder.

Westwood selected a T-shirt emblazoned with her face and the words "I am Julian Assange" to wear at her Red Label fashion show, which sent models in ribbed, woollen dresses striding down the halls of Saatchi Gallery.

The veteran designer called Assange a "hero" and said she had raised £3,000 (HK$36,000) for him selling the T-shirts.

"I'm a big supporter of Julian Assange," Westwood said. "He's an incredible hero because he exposes the lies of the war mafia people. I love people who stick their necks out."

Assange incensed the United States and its allies by using WikiLeaks to leak hundreds of thousands of secret US diplomatic and military cables in 2010, disclosures that often embarrassed Washington.

Assange has been holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London since June to avoid extradition from Britain to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault. He denies any wrongdoing.

After her show, as always, Westwood was less interested in talking about her designs than her favourite causes, in particular climate change, a subject she has long campaigned about.

"There's no 'latest thing', it's all rubbish," she said, brushing off questions about fashion. Instead, she explained why she feels so passionately about her climate-change campaign.

"Every small thing you do can really change your life," she said. "And the first thing they must do is inform themselves, believe the scientists ... then they'll stop being consumers and start being more interested in the world."

Canadian rock star Bryan Adams and British socialite sisters Peaches and Pixie Geldof turned out to see the show. "She is an original ... there's no one like Vivienne," Adams said.

Over the years, designers have used London Fashion Week to make political slogans, taking advantage of the international audience of buyers and celebrities to garner maximum publicity for their causes. Buyers from 39 countries are attending and the British Fashion Council estimates £100 million worth of orders are placed during the event.

Additional reporting by Associated Press