Vivienne Westwood

At 83 years old, Vivienne Westwood has this physical status:

Vivienne Isabel Westwood (née Swire), born 8 April 1941), is a British fashion designer and businesswoman, who was mainly responsible for the mainstream introduction of punk and new wave fashions. The King's Road store, which has been identified as "SEX" in the media.

It was their ability to synthesize clothing and music that dominated the 1970s UK punk scene, led by McLaren's band, the Sex Pistols.

"Seeing if one could put a spoke in the system,"Westwood began to open four shops in London, eventually expanding around the globe and the world, selling an increasingly diverse range of products, some of which were related to her many political causes, including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, climate change, and civil rights organisations.

Personal life

Westwood has two children. Ben Westwood (born 1963) aspires to be a photographer of erotica, and her son, Derek Westwood, is a sexographer. Joseph Corré (born 1967), her son Malcolm McLaren, is the founder of lingerie brand Agent Prosequel.

Andreas Kronthaler, her late fashion college classmate, married her in 1992.

Westwood lived in an ex-council home in Nightingale Lane, Clapham, for 30 years, until Kronthaler, in 2000, convinced her to move to a Queen Anne style house in Clapham that once belonged to Captain Cook's mother. She is both a keen gardener and a vegetarian.

Westwood was hired by CIRCA, a British-Irish artist Josef O'Connor's studio, to create a new video work on Piccadilly Circus London's 80th birthday. The punk icon performed a rewritten version of "Without You" from My Fair Lady's ten-minute film, a call against the arms trade, and climate change: "I have a plan 2 save the World." Capitalism is the most polluted, so Stop War + Change Economy 2 equitable distribution of wealth at the same time: NO MANS LAND is the most populated area. Let's be crystal clear, U+1 I can't stop war just like that. However, we can stop weapons production, which would mean climate change and financial hardship. This will be a long-term war." Andreas Kronthaler's husband was quoted in a Guardian interview as saying, "It was a beautiful day because for the first time she let herself enjoy it."

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Life and career

Westwood was born in the village of Tintwistle, Cheshire, on 8 April 1941, as the daughter of Gordon Swire and Dora Swire (née Ball), who had married two years previously, two weeks after the outbreak of World War II. At the time of Vivienne's birth, her father was employed as a storekeeper in an aircraft factory; he had previously worked as a greengrocer.

In 1958, her family moved to Harrow, Middlesex, and Westwood took a jewellery and silversmith course at the University of Westminster, then known as the Harrow Art School, but left after one term, saying: "I didn't know how a working-class girl like me could possibly make a living in the art world". After taking up a job in a factory and studying at a teacher-training college, she became a primary school teacher. During this period, she created her own jewellery, which she sold at a stall on Portobello Road.

In 1962, she met Derek Westwood, a Hoover factory apprentice, in Harrow. They married on 21 July 1962; Westwood made her own wedding dress. In 1963, she gave birth to a son, Benjamin (Ben) Westwood.

Westwood's marriage to Derek ended after she met Malcolm McLaren. Westwood and McLaren moved into Thurleigh Court in Balham, where their son Joseph Corré was born in 1967. Westwood continued to teach until 1971 and also created clothes which McLaren designed. McLaren became manager of the punk band the Sex Pistols and subsequently the two garnered attention as the band wore Westwood's and McLaren's designs.

Westwood is portrayed by Talulah Riley in the 2022 Craig Pearce - Danny Boyle FX biographical drama miniseries Pistol.

Westwood was one of the architects of the punk fashion phenomenon of the 1970s, saying "I was messianic about punk, seeing if one could put a spoke in the system in some way". The store that she co-managed with McLaren, SEX, was a meeting place for early members of the London punk scene. Westwood also inspired the style of punk icons, such as Viv Albertine, who wrote in her memoir, "Vivienne and Malcolm use clothes to shock, irritate and provoke a reaction but also to inspire change. Mohair jumpers, knitted on big needles, so loosely that you can see all the way through them, T-shirts slashed and written on by hand, seams and labels on the outside, showing the construction of the piece; these attitudes are reflected in the music we make. It's OK to not be perfect, to show the workings of your life and your mind in your songs and your clothes."

Westwood's designs were independent and represented a statement of her own values. She collaborated on occasions with Gary Ness, who assisted Westwood with inspirations and titles for her collections.

McLaren and Westwood's first fashion collection to be shown to the media and potential international buyers was Pirate. Subsequently, their partnership, which was underlined by the fact that both their names appeared on all labelling, produced collections in Paris and London with the thematic titles Savages (shown late 1981), Buffalo/Nostalgia Of Mud (shown spring 1982), Punkature (shown late 1982), Witches (shown early 1983) and Worlds End 1984 (later renamed Hypnos, shown late 1983). After the partnership with McLaren was dissolved, Westwood showed one more collection under the Worlds End label: "Clint Eastwood" (late 1984–early 1985).

She dubbed the period 1981–85 "New Romantic" and 1988–91 as "The Pagan Years" during which "Vivienne's heroes changed from punks and ragamuffins to 'Tatler' girls wearing clothes that parodied the upper class". From 1985 to 1987, Westwood took inspiration from the ballet Petrushka to design the mini-crini, an abbreviated version of the Victorian crinoline. Its mini-length, bouffant silhouette inspired the puffball skirts widely presented by more established designers such as Christian Lacroix. The mini-crini was described in 1989 as a combination of two conflicting ideals - the crinoline, representing a "mythology of restriction and encumbrance in woman's dress", and the miniskirt, representing an "equally dubious mythology of liberation".

In 2007, Westwood was approached by the Chair of King's College London, Patricia Rawlings, to design an academic gown for the college after it had successfully petitioned the Privy Council for the right to award degrees. In 2008, the Westwood-designed academic dresses for King's College were unveiled. On the gowns, Westwood commented: "Through my reworking of the traditional robe I tried to link the past, the present and the future. We are what we know."

In July 2011, Westwood's collections were presented at The Brandery fashion show in Barcelona.

Westwood worked closely with Richard Branson to design uniforms for Virgin Atlantic crew. The uniform for the female crew consisted of a red suit, which accentuated the women's curves and hips, and had strategically placed darts around the bust area. The men's uniform consisted of a grey and burgundy three-piece suit with details on the lapels and pockets. Westwood and Branson were both passionate about using sustainable materials throughout their designs to reduce the impact on the environment and so used recycled polyester. Before fully launching the designs, the two released some for a trial period with pilots and cabin crew and made changes using the feedback they received.

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