Immediately following her introduction is a “Climate Map”, which shows the area of land that will become uninhabitable if the earth’s temperature rises by 5 degrees Celsius. This special anniversary edition of Lewis Carroll’s tale fits in with the twisted take on Britishness that Dame Vivienne Westwood is famous for in a magical Wonderland setting. It was a wish from Westwood, who explains: « When you read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, you’ll see the original drawings by Tenniel which also help to make the book so sensational.

Aside from her Alice-inspired Autumn/Winter 2011/2012 runway collection , her credentials differ from those who have written an introduction to the work in the past. Complete with giant tumbling playing cards, an array of cakes and biscuits, and three carefully hand-crafted headpieces.The special edition includes Carroll's other Alice novel, Through the Looking Glass, and original illustrations by British artist John Tenniel. It places a moral responsibility on its readers to defy the establishment and, like Alice, notice the inconsistencies in accepted reason.

These designers are not alone in having been inspired by the extraordinarily imaginative world created by Carroll.

She has been illustrated countless times, from illustrator John Tenniel’s original humorous line drawings featuring puffed sleeves and pinafores to artist and author Tove Jansson’s magical, rather melancholic images accompanying a Swedish edition of the book in 1966. Previously the book has been introduced by Michael Irwin, a professor of English literature at the University of Kent, and Hugh Haughton, a professor of English literature at York University, who tells me that he thinks Alice in Wonderland is, “the greatest text of dream realism ever written”. Dame Vivienne Westwood has designed and introduced a special 150th anniversary edition of her favourite children's book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Ever since Alice first tumbled down a rabbit hole and entered the public consciousness via the release of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 1865, the curious, pragmatic, sometimes snappish little girl dreamed up by Lewis Carroll (real name Charles Dodgson) has become an unusual literary emblem – and surprising visual icon.