British fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood, who was instrumental in bringing punk fashion into the mainstream, has died aged 81. No reason was given, but a tweet from her fashion house said she died “peacefully and surrounded” by her family in Clapham. , South London.
A sometimes controversial punk and new wave designer in the 1970s, Westwood dressed some of the biggest names in fashion. Her androgynous designs, slogan T-shirts and irreverent attitude towards the establishment were her trademarks, as was her activism to bring issues such as climate change to the runway.
The designer was made a dame in 2006 for his services to fashion.
Westwood worked as a primary school teacher before opening the clothing store Let It Rock on King’s Road in Chelsea with her then partner Malcolm McLaren.
The company was later renamed Sex and at the end of 1975 McLaren started managing a regular punk rock band – the Sex Pistols. They carried Westwood and McLaren designs.
She later worked as a costume designer for various television and film projects. She was also the subject of her own documentary, Westwood.
“The only reason I’m in fashion is to destroy the word ‘conformity,'” Westwood said in her 2014 biography. “Nothing is interesting to me if it doesn’t have that element.”
She leaves behind her husband and creative partner Andreas Kronthaler.
Writer: Bruce Herring
Source: Deadline
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