Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood has died aged 81.
Vivienne Westwood is dead The designer, known for her androgynous cuts and provocative slogans, has died aged 81, her agents confirmed to British news agency PA on Thursday night. The Brit has also made a name for herself on the fashion scene since the 1970s with her irreverent attitude towards the establishment. Dame Vivienne died “peacefully and surrounded by her family in Clapham, south London”, she said.
“Queen of Punk” and activist
The “Queen of Punk” was more than just a fashion icon. She was also an activist. In 2020, for example, she caused an uproar with the protest for the release of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. In a bright yellow outfit, she sat in a huge cage in front of a London courthouse. “I am Julian Assange!” She shouted into her megaphone in front of journalists and demonstrators and: “The world is corrupt!” She seemed to like the role.
Throughout her life, the pale-skinned Brit has been committed to human rights, peace, animal welfare and the fight against climate change. The big show was always part of Westwood’s staging, as it guaranteed her attention. In 2015, she was taken in a white tank to the home of then British Prime Minister David Cameron to protest the production of fracking gas.
Married to an Austrian
The political statement was an integral part of her fashion—sometimes to the chagrin of her husband and co-designer Andreas Kronthaler, who hails from Tyrol. This was made visible in the 2018 documentary “Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist”, which is worth seeing. “She likes it when clothes have a message,” says Kronthaler in it, “which I think is good or bad, I’m not sure.” Westwood was married to the 25-year-old Austrian, his former fashion student, for about 30 years.
More intellectual than fashion
Fashion alone was never enough for Westwood. She didn’t even have a career in the industry in mind. “I didn’t want to be a fashion designer,” she clarified in Time magazine in 2009. “I prefer to read and do intellectual things.” Daughter of a shoemaker and cotton spinner, she already showed a knack for fashion since she was a child. Westwood, who was born Vivienne Isabel Swire in Tintwistle parish near Manchester in 1941, is said to have even made fashion changes to her school uniform.
As a teenager, she moved to nearby London with her parents and siblings. She dropped out of art studies after just one semester to train as a teacher – with art as her main subject. Her plan: “I’m going to try to be an artist. And if I can’t be an artist, I’ll be a teacher.”
Punk, sex and fashion
First she met Derek Westwood, with whom she had a son, Ben. The marriage lasted only two years. From the subsequent relationship with young art student Malcolm McLaren, who later became manager of the Sex Pistols, resulted in their second child, Joseph. McLaren also coincidentally launched Westwood’s fashion career.
With him, she opened the “Let it Rock” store on London’s King’s Road in 1970 for records and clothes designed by her. The boutique has changed names and styles several times, sometimes offering edgy S&M fashion like “SEX”, and since 1979 it has been called “World’s End”. In the 1970s it was a meeting point for the punk scene and is also considered the founding place of the Sex Pistols. Westwood created the first clothes for Johnny Rotten and Co. with safety pins, knit shirts and studded bracelets – and thus created the iconic punk look.
“I didn’t think of myself as a fashion designer, but I found myself to be very talented,” Westwood said in Lorna Tucker’s documentary. “I wanted people to know that the things they see on the runway in Paris are my creations. And I thought, ‘I have to get into this business and actually sell the clothes, distribute them to journalists and get a chance to be a designer. I knew I could do this.
First laughed, then celebrated
After Westwood was initially mocked at home and even mocked on television in the late 1980s, she was awarded British Designer of the Year in 1990 and 1991. In 2006, she was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. While Vivienne has always remained a punk at heart, her fashion has long been part of the establishment. Princess Eugenie got married in a Westwood gown in 2011. Even former Prime Minister Theresa May wore one of her pantsuits.
climate protection
Vivienne Westwood was also stubborn and uncomfortable when it came to weather protection. “Climate Revolution” was the name of her website, a mix of political blog and diary in punk design. “I am the only person with a plan to save the world from climate change,” she announced in a 2021 video message. She often uploaded videos like this one. She never went into more detail, but one thing was always clear: Westwood was serious about the climate crisis.
In the end, she was not satisfied with “Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist” and expressly distanced herself from it. Director Tucker, who accompanied her for three years, showed too much archival material and reported too little about her political commitment, Westwood complained and ended the friendship. Tucker defended his film but remained diplomatic. “She inspired me like nobody else I’ve worked with,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald. “Then I will always love her.”
“Thank you dear”
Westwood’s husband, Andreas Kronthaler, thanked his late wife in a message. “We worked it out to the end and she gave me so much to go on. Thank you darling,” he writes.