Vivienne Westwood

The pioneer who brought punk-inspired creations to the mainstream has died aged 81.

As well as climate change, Westwood became a vocal supporter for the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is fighting extradition to the US to face charges under the Espionage Act. I am grateful for the moments I got to share with you and Andreas." They shot to fame in 1976 wearing Westwood and McLaren's designs. The Victoria and Albert Museum, which houses some of her works, described Westwood as a "true revolutionary and rebellious force in fashion". Singer Boy George, who first met Westwood in the early 1980s, called her "great and inspiring" and "without question she is the undisputed Queen of British fashion". Westwood made her name with her controversial punk and new wave styles in the 1970s and went on to dress some of the biggest stars in fashion.

In a Twitter statement on Thursday, Westwood's fashion house confirmed the designer died "peacefully and surrounded" by family.

"She led an amazing life," the statement said. Thank you darling." Whereas the band and others like them helped spread the punk lifestyle, Westwood's work had a profound impact on the subculture's aesthetic. It was so influential from the mid-70s." Her runway looks included corset tops, ruffled plaid, strong catchphrases, and striking animal prints. She first worked as an elementary school teacher.

Doyenne of British design Vivienne Westwood, who melded music and fashion together to create punk and brought rebellious politics to the catwalk, ...

"But when I turned around on the barricades there was no one there... Who needs leaders who are a total rip-off, who create war and torture?" So I lost interest." "Vivienne Westwood died today, peacefully and surrounded by her family, in Clapham, South London. "We saw it as a question of youth against age. Thank you darling."

The legendary designer, who helped bring punk to fashion (and fashion to punk), died on Thursday at 81.

Above all, Westwood wanted what she believed was to be the best for the planet, be that political or ecological. Even in her later years, Westwood was attracted to—perhaps even fueled by—controversy. [I know how to save the world from climate change](https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/fashion/article/vivienne-westwood-interview),” she told British GQ in 2021. Westwood was born in rural Derbyshire to greengrocer parents, and moved with her family to Harrow in 1958 before taking a jewelry course. Her Chelsea boutique, SEX, became a holy land for the punk rock movement. Her crinolines, cutouts, and rippling naked flesh had inspired the punks; soon, it influenced the New Romantics, too.

British fashion icon Vivienne Westwood died on 29 December, her eponymous fashion label announced. She was 81.

A sad day, Vivienne Westwood was and will remain a towering figure in British fashion. “A sad day, Vivienne Westwood was and will remain a towering figure in British fashion. Westwood held her first major fashion show, Pirate Collection, in 1981. “Vivienne Westwood died today, peacefully and surrounded by her family, in Clapham, South London. “We are saddened to learn about the passing of legendary designer Vivienne Westwood. Thank you darling,” Kronthaler, who was also her creative partner, said in a statement.

British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, who died at the age of 81, was known not only for her eye-catching pieces, but also as a vocal activist.

Westwood later opened a shop on London's Kings Road and after trialling a variety of names for the establishment she settled on SEX. When awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1992, Westwood wore a perfectly tailored skirt suit with a grey matching hat. She also lent her support to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, animal rights charity Peta and vegetarianism. I don't wear them with dresses." During this time, she began to sell jewellery she had designed and created from a stall in Portobello Market. With her and McLaren's designs, Westwood made a name for herself as one of the pioneers of punk fashion and is often thought of as one of the designers responsible for bringing new wave fashion styles into the mainstream.

Doyenne of British design melded music and fashion together to create punk and brought rebellious politics to the catwalk.

Connection is secure Checking if the site connection is secure Occasionally, you may see this page while the site ensures that the connection is secure.

PARIS: Doyenne of British design Vivienne Westwood, who melded music and fashion together to help define punk and brought rebellious politics to the catwalk ...

Who needs leaders who are a total rip-off, who create war and torture?" "We saw it as a question of youth against age. "Vivienne Westwood died today, peacefully and surrounded by her family, in Clapham, South London. Thank you darling." And she held on to her edge even as she was embraced by the establishment, thanks largely to her energetic activism for environmental causes. "Her punk style rewrote the rule book in the 1970s and (she) was widely admired for how she stayed true to her own values throughout her life," she wrote on Twitter.

Iconoclastic British designer rose to prominence by outfitting the Sex Pistols as punk took off in the 1970s.

In 2020, she suspended herself in a birdcage to protest against the WikiLeaks founder’s extradition from the UK. Love you Viv,” tweeted Chrissie Hynde, the frontwoman of the Pretenders and a former worker at the couple’s store. As a vegetarian, Westwood lobbied the British government to [ban the retail sale of fur](https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2021/mar/16/top-fashion-designers-letter-to-pm-calls-for-ban-on-uk-fur-sales) alongside other top designers including Stella McCartney. Last month she made a statement of support for the climate protesters who threw soup on Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, writing: “Young people are desperate. In 2022 she designed the suit and dress worn by Assange and his wife, Stella Moris, at their wedding. But she still found ways to shock: her Statue of Liberty corset in 1987 is credited as starting the “underwear as outerwear” trend. The pair opened a small shop on Kings Road in Chelsea in 1971 that became a haunt of many of the bands she outfitted, including the Sex Pistols, who were managed by McLaren. In 2007, she published a manifesto titled Born in the Derbyshire village of Tintwistle in 1941, Westwood’s family moved to London in 1957, where she attended art school for one term. She later told Dazed Digital that “the suit I wore had been ordered by Margaret Thatcher from Aquascutum, but she had then cancelled it”. Since her earliest punk days, Westwood remixed and inverted imagery drawn from the British monarchy. We have been working until the end and she has given me plenty of things to get on with.

British fashion icon Vivienne Westwood died on 29 December, her eponymous fashion label announced. She was 81.

A sad day, Vivienne Westwood was and will remain a towering figure in British fashion. “A sad day, Vivienne Westwood was and will remain a towering figure in British fashion. Westwood held her first major fashion show, Pirate Collection, in 1981. “Vivienne Westwood died today, peacefully and surrounded by her family, in Clapham, South London. “We are saddened to learn about the passing of legendary designer Vivienne Westwood. Thank you darling,” Kronthaler, who was also her creative partner, said in a statement.

No fashion designer ever had a Paris show like the one staged by Vivienne Westwood in 1991. Although she was by then 50 and had been making clothes for sale ...

Westwood accepted an offer of management from the fashion PR Carlo D’Amario, and they travelled to Italy to seek backing for a label of her own. With introductions from rag trade friends, she moved incrementally into bank loans and business funding to pay off the debts of Worlds End, and to buy rather than rent her second shop, in Davies Street, Mayfair. Westwood’s politics, unstoppably advocated, were anti-establishment, whatever the current establishment might be, and settled in the direction of Green party-pro-environmentalism, although there were problems over her company’s tax-related fine for undervaluing its assets, and its corporate tax wriggles. The Harris tweed, tartan and barathea of her collection of 1987, again sewn in the flat, recalled Glossop’s stout wool stuffs, respecting tradition yet radically cut. Westwood was discovering that her work was known, and admired, more outside Britain than in it. She returned to her parents, and began to make jewellery for a stall in Portobello Road. These she printed with slogans and lewd images, gay and straight; she distressed and adorned them, dyed them in her bath and stitched on chicken bones boiled clean in the kitchen. Its next incarnation was as SEX, in 1974, with Westwood sourcing its stock of rubber fetish-wear through the pages of Exchange & Mart. Her father was a factory worker; her mother had been in the mills and appreciated a length of good wool worsted – although everything was in short supply during Viv’s childhood. She became a primary school teacher and in 1962 married Derek Westwood, a toolmaker with ambitions, which he achieved, to be an airline pilot. She was born in Tintwistle, just outside the mill town of Glossop, Derbyshire, the daughter of Dora (nee Ball) and Gordon Swire. No fashion designer ever had a Paris show like the one staged by Vivienne Westwood in 1991.

Alongside then-partner and Sex Pistols band manager Malcolm McLaren, she established the look of punk in the mid-1970s. And in so doing, she also changed ...

For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. Compare Standard and Premium Digital For a full comparison of Standard and Premium Digital,

Greenpeace called her a 'true radical' and Hynde said 'the world is already a less interesting place'

Friends of the Earth said she had been “a redoubtable opponent of fracking and her role in supporting and invigorating the movement in the UK was absolutely invaluable”. Outside Buckingham Palace, she gave a twirl to photographers, revealing to all the world that she had worn no knickers. The pair opened a small shop on Kings Road in Chelsea in 1971 that became a haunt of many of the bands she dressed, including the Sex Pistols, who were managed by McLaren. Born in the Derbyshire village of Tintwistle in 1941, Westwood moved with her family to London in 1957, where she attended art school for one term. She said on Twitter: “Vivienne is gone and the world is already a less interesting place.” They’re wearing a T-shirt that says: Just Stop Oil. Someone who forced fashion forward in a crucible of heat combined with an unswerving dedication to fairness, justice and the salvation of our planet. If we could all live this ideal, the world would be a better place.” Since her earliest punk days, Westwood remixed and inverted imagery drawn from the British monarchy. Addressing Westwood in an Instagram post, the American fashion designer Marc Jacobs said he was “heartbroken”, adding: “You did it first. Rest in peace dear Vivienne, although, somehow peace seems like the wrong word.” There was also recognition of Westwood’s long-running involvement in environmental activism.

From Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington, to Marc Jacobs and Donatella Versace, the most moving tributes from the fashion world to Vivienne Westwood.

I will forever be grateful to have been in your orbit, because to me and most in fashion—and in humanity—you, Vivienne, were the sun. She was kind, normal, and messianic, all uniquely rolled into one visionary force who had not one jot of grandeur about her incredible standing as one of the most influential designers in the world. From the first day I met you to the last day I saw you, you made me smile, listen, learn and love more than the day before. She was one of the very greatest British women, always ahead of her time. Thereon, she heroically devoted herself to standing up for civilized critical and radical thinking, constantly using her position in fashion to speak out about the urgency of environmental destruction. Thank you, Vivienne, for staying so true to your principles and values and most importantly, for leading the way with spunk and with humor.” This talented and brilliant lady was so unique and so punk in all the ways punk should be. Vivienne invented historic fashion design moments that woke us all up and shook the industry to its core. Vivienne once faxed me a handwritten letter inviting me to participate in one of her shows, as one did in the early ’90s. To be able to visit with you recently I feel blessed and will carry that memory in my heart always. You never failed to surprise and to shock. And your beautiful love story with Andreas, one we’d read about in fairy tales, that I was able to witness for decades.

Vivienne Westwood helped create the punk movement as we know it with her provocative designs,. Credit: Andy Hosie/Mirrorpix/Getty ...

[CBS Sunday Morning](https://youtu.be/PVmPQh79Bto)and was named Dame Commander of the British Empire. Contemporary designers are still inspired by the punk scene Westwood helped shape, drawing on the "distressed" look and incorporating tartan and safety pins. Westwood went on to become one of the UK's most celebrated designers, beloved by the mainstream industry she once wanted to repel. "But for somebody my age to think that it's got any credibility in any way -- no it hasn't." It's where Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and friends hung out and where the band [auditioned a green-haired outcast](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/an-illustrated-history-of-the-sex-pistols-40617/)named John Lydon, better known to many as Johnny Rotten, as its lead singer. Westwood said years later that she didn't want to be a designer but made clothes out of necessity in her teens and when she was asked by McLaren to outfit the new band he was managing, the Sex Pistols. But when the mainstream got its hands on Westwood's punk designs, many of them were uninterested in punk's radical political underpinnings. Disenchanted, Westwood built her eponymous line and split from McLaren. it was just a fashion that became a marketing opportunity for people," she said. When the Sex Pistols' single "God Save the Queen" was banned from British radio, Westwood She was influenced by leather-clad bikers and But before she dressed supermodels and constructed romantic corsets, she ripped up fashion's rule book for a new generation of disillusioned changemakers.

Vivienne Westwood, iconic fashion designer, died Thursday at age 81. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Ian Kelly, the co-author of Vivienne Westwood's memoir, ...

And - but it was typical of Vivienne because, you know, she was very proud of her - I guess that was the OBE and then her damehood from the queen. I mean, you know, she was cycling to work in London, you know, every day on platform heels all the way through her 70s and working, you know, right to the end. And she was fascinating to be around in that regard 'cause she was, you know, the most curious person I've ever met, in both senses of the word - so interested in everything but also, you know, kind of eccentric. But the look - well, yeah, I suppose you'd characterize it, as you mentioned, with an idea of the semi-destroyed, the punk look that addressed a lot of sort of ideas from contemporary art then of sticking things onto things, safety pins and the like that have become mainstream, the deconstruction of clothes so that you notice, to an extent, how they are made, rather in the ways they were experimenting with modern architecture at the same time. You could date to her the platform shoe, the modern corset, the idea of, you know, underwear as outerwear. She was 81 and widely respected as one of the most influential fashion designers of the 20th century.

Doyenne of British design Vivienne Westwood, who melded music and fashion together to help define punk and brought rebellious politics to the catwalk, ...

Connection is secure Checking if the site connection is secure Occasionally, you may see this page while the site ensures that the connection is secure.

Westwood's fashion career began in the 1970s with the punk explosion, when her radical approach to urban street style took the world by storm.

She approached her work with gusto in her early years, but over time seemed to tire of the clamor and buzz. "They gave the punk movement a look, a style, and it was so radical it broke from anything in the past," he said. But Westwood was able to make the transition from punk to haute couture without missing a beat, keeping her career going without stooping to self-caricature. She dressed like a teenager even in her 60s and became an outspoken advocate of fighting global warming, warning of planetary doom if climate change was not controlled. As her stature grew, she seemed to transcend fashion, with her designs shown in museum collections throughout the world. But she went on to enjoy a long career highlighted by a string of triumphant runway shows in London, Paris, Milan and New York.