British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood died on Thursday at the age of 81. Known for her influence on punk style and aesthetics and for her environmental activism, she was at her home in London, according to a statement from her reps.
Born in the village of Tintwistle in Derbyshire, England, Westwood rose to fame in the British capital in the 1970s. She sold jewelery and used clothing at the famous Portobello Road market before marrying Malcolm McLaren and founding the controversial and pioneering sex shop on King’s Road.
One of British punk’s most emblematic figures, McLaren was a businessman and one of the main contributors to the success of the Sex Pistols, who unleashed a whole young, rebellious and aggressive music scene in the country.
In the biography Vivienne Westwood, she describes their relationship as destructive but happy, with many struggles, and treats the artist as a person with a childlike personality.
Sex spawned the style that was perceived by the press as an affront to good manners, but that inspired the likes of Mick Jagger, Iggy Pop, Sid Vicious, David Bowie and Debby Harry.
As the queen of the punk aesthetic, Westwood was known for her free demeanor. In one of her most famous stories, the designer went to Buckingham Palace to accept a tribute in what appeared to be a wellbehaved look. However, she made it clear to photographers that she was pantyless, which twirled her skirt.
“I’ve been an antiwar and prohuman rights activist since the early days of punk in the 1970s,” she said in a 2020 interview. “On social media, I use fashion to get people involved in politics. If people aren’t aware, how are we going to save the world from corruption and climate change?”