Vivienne Westwood, the provocative grande dame of British fashion, dies at 81.
While the person who dressed the Sex Pistols, Vivienne Westwood, who died on Thursday at age 81, was synonymous with 70s punk rock.
(Reuters)- As the person who dressed the Sex Pistols, Vivienne Westwood, who died this Thursday at age 81, was synonymous with 1970s punk rock, a rebelliousness that remained a trademark of an avowedly political designer who became one of the biggest names in British fashion.
"Vivienne Westwood died peacefully today, surrounded by her family, in Clapham, south London. The world needs people like Vivienne to make a change for the better," said the official Twitter account of her brand.
Climate change, pollution, and her support for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange served as the basis for protest t-shirts or banners carried by her models on the catwalk.
She dressed up as then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for a magazine cover in 1989 and drove a white tank near the country house of future British leader David Cameron to protest against "fracking," a technique used to drill for oil.
The rebel entered the establishment in 1992 after Queen Elizabeth awarded her the Order of the British Empire medal. But, always wanting to shock, Westwood appeared at Buckingham Palace without underwear -- a fact she proved to photographers with a revealing twist of her skirt.
"The only reason I'm fashionable is to destroy the word 'conformity'," Westwood said in his 2014 autobiography. "Nothing is interesting to me unless it has that element."
Instantly recognizable by his orange or white hair, Westwood first made his name in punk fashion in 1970s London, dressing the punk rock band that defined the genre.
Together with Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, she defied the hippie trends of the time to sell rock 'n' roll inspired clothing.
They began wearing ripped clothing adorned with chains, as well as latex and fetish items that they sold in their shop on London's King's Road, called "Let It Rock," "Sex," and "Seditionaries," among other names.
They used swastika prints, bare breasts, and perhaps most famously, an image of the queen with a safety pin in her lips. Favorite items included black sleeveless T-shirts studded with zippers, safety pins, or chicken bones.
"There was no punk before me and Malcolm," Westwood said in the biography. "And the other thing you should know about punk as well: it was a total explosion."
"BUY LESS"
Born Vivienne Isabel Swire on April 8, 1941, in the English town of Glossop, Westwood grew up during a time of rationing during and after the Second World War.
A recycling mentality permeated her work, and she repeatedly told fashionistas to "choose well" and "buy less." From the late 1960s, she lived in a small flat in south London for about 30 years and cycled to work.
When she was a teenager, her parents, greengrocers and cotton weavers, moved the family to north London, where she studied jewelry making and goldsmithing before returning to her studies to become a teacher.
While teaching at a primary school, she met her first husband, Derek Westwood, and married him in a homemade dress. Their son, Ben, was born in 1963, and the couple divorced in 1966.
Now a single mother, Westwood was selling jewelry on Portobello Road in London when she met art student McLaren, who would become her romantic and professional partner. They had a son, Joe Corre, co-founder of the lingerie brand Agent Provocateur.
After the Sex Pistols broke up, the two held their first fashion show in 1981, showcasing a "new romantic look" of African-style patterns, buccaneer pants, and sashes.
Westwood, then in his forties, slowly began to forge his own path in fashion, eventually parting ways with McLaren in the early 1980s.
Often looking to history, her influential designs included corsets, Harris Tweed suits, and taffeta ball gowns.
Her 1985 "Mini-Crini" line featured her signature short, puffy skirt and a more fitted silhouette. Her sky-high platform shoes caught the world's attention in 1993 when model Naomi Campbell tripped on the runway wearing a pair.
"My clothes have a history. They have an identity. They have character and a purpose," said Westwood.
"That's why they become classics. Because they continue to tell a story. They are still telling it."
The Westwood brand flourished in the 1990s, with fashionistas flocking to its shows in Paris and opening stores worldwide selling its lines, accessories, and perfumes.
She met Andreas Kronthaler while teaching fashion in Vienna. They married in 1993, and he later became her creative partner.
Westwood used her public profile to advocate for issues such as nuclear disarmament and to protest against anti-terrorism laws and government spending policies that disproportionately affect the poor. She held a large "climate revolution" banner at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Paralympic Games in London and frequently transformed her models into eco-warriors on the catwalk.
"I've always had a political agenda," Westwood told the fashion magazine L'Officiel in 2018.
"I used fashion to challenge the status quo."