Vivienne Westwood, who dressed the Sex Pistols and pioneered the style developments of British punk, died at the age of 81 on (*81*). 29, her colleagues confirmed.
“Vivienne Westwood died today, peacefully and surrounded by her family, in Clapham, South London,” a tweet from her official account learn. “The world needs people like Vivienne to make a change for the better.” No additional particulars have been offered.
She rose to acclaim after opening London vogue retailer SEX with Malcolm McLaren, who later managed the Pistols. While a swathe of late ‘70s and early ‘80s musicians wore her designs, she also employed Chrissy Hynde, Glen Matlock and Toyah Willcox in the store. In later years her outfits were worn by Hollywood icons and royalty, while she continued to push the fashion industry towards more sustainable business models.
“Buy less, choose well, make it last,” a mission statement on her official website said. “We know there is a contradiction between our activism and the industry we are part of. Fashion creates products which are too often disposable, and which – through their creation, distribution and eventual disposal – can have a disproportionately negative impact on our planet, its wildlife and people. … We know this and we know we must do better. … We are proud of the changes we have made so far. We understand there is so much more to do.”
Born Vivienne Isabel Swire in a north-western English village in 1941, she discovered an ability to work with her hands at an early age. She pursued a career in fashion with her family’s assist, however it wasn’t till she met McLaren that she realized the extent of her creativity. While founding the style construction of punk and new wave, she at all times maintained a ferocious assist for social change – regardless of McLaren’s various tackle being a self-described “con man.” She turned Dame Westwood after receiving an O.B.E in 2006 for companies to vogue, and he or she was performed by Talulah Riley within the 2022 miniseries Pistol.
In a s 2018 interview she advised Dazed: “I think all activists are motivated by the same thing. It’s just who you are. The human race, they really do care about other people suffering, don’t they? We help each other. Different people obviously feel responsible to different degrees. But I have always felt that, if nobody else is doing it, I’ve got to do it.”
She argued: “It’s not true, this old idea that Malcolm and other people used to have, that somehow when you’re young you’re full of fire and rebellion and enthusiasm, and when you get old you just become useless. No, the opposite is true. The older you get, your life becomes richer. It’s incredible. … I guess I’m a punk because I’m a fighter. You’re born with the character you’ve got, and I will always fight. I can’t help it.”
“Vivienne is gone and the world is already a less interesting place,” Hynde mentioned in a tribute. Matlock mentioned: “I’ve simply heard the unhappy information a couple of one off, single minded, proficient woman. A privilege to have rubbed shoulders together with her within the mid ‘70s at the start of punk and the waves it created that also resound right now for the disaffected. My ideas are together with her family and friends.”
Belinda Carlisle wrote: “What a horribly sad loss… truly an extraordinary woman!” All On the Board, the social media presence for an iconic London transport information panel, shared a photo of the panel reading a quote credited to Westwood: “If you do this, something will change; what will change is that you will change, your life will change, and if you can change you, you can perhaps change the world.”
In Memoriam: 2022 Deaths
A glance at these we have misplaced.
Discussion about this post