Fashion icon and punk pioneer Dame Vivienne Westwood has died aged 81.
“Vivienne Westwood died today, peacefully and surrounded by her family, in Clapham, South London,” her fashion house said on Twitter. “The world needs people like Vivienne to make a change for the better.”
As a designer Westwood brought punk ethos and new wave fashion into the mainstream, she combined clothes with political messages often championing the causes she cared most about including nuclear disarmament, climate change and civil rights.
Born Vivienne Squire she spent just one term at Harrow Art School, now the University of Westminster, studying jewelry design before dropping out in 1958. She later said, “I didn’t know how a working-class girl like me could possibly make a living in the art world”.
After working in a factory, she trained to become a primary school teacher. It was while she was working as a teacher she began creating and selling jewelry that she sold at a stall on London’s Portobello Road.
In 1962 she married Derek Westwood an apprentice at the hoover factory, the couple welcomed a son Benjamin the following year. The marriage broke up when Westwood met Malcolm McLaren. The couple’s son Joseph Corré was born in 1967, his parent’s decided to give him a different surname to theirs.
McLaren went on to manage punk band The Sex Pistols with Westwood creating their distinctive clothing. The couple also operated a shop on in London’s King’s Road that went through various name changes including Let It Rock, Sex and Seditionaries and other names. Her early work included t-shirts adorned with safety pins, and a print featuring the Queen with a safety pin through her lips.
The couple began to create fashion collections and after they split up in 1980 Westwood’s career soared. Her work has featured tweed suits, contrasting plaid patterns, tight corsets, taffeta ball gowns and giant platform shoes.
She met her second husband Andreas Kronthaler teaching fashion in Vienna. They married in 1993 and he became her creative partner.
She created the uniforms for Virgin Airlines flight crew. Her work is featured in the film Sex and the City, she designed Pharrell Williams giant hat, and her clothes have been worn by film stars and royalty.
In 1992 she received an OBE from Queen Elizabeth II. Outside the ceremony Westwood did a twirl for the cameras revealing she was not wearing any underwear. In 2016 she made a dame.
Tributes for the designer have poured in from celebrities and political leaders. Pop band Bananarama, who also got their start in the punk movement said “a true pioneer. An incredible force in fashion & longtime activist who will continue to inspire for generations.”
Boy George also posted a picture of himself with the designer to social media saying, “R.I.P to the great and inspiring Vivienne Westwood who lead us through punk and beyond. Laughed at by the fashion industry but without question she is the undisputed Queen of British fashion. I love you! Oh bondage up yours!”
OIP Staff
You can support our work by subscribing to our Patreon
or contributing to our GoFundMe campaign.
