Vivienne Westwood
Vivienne Westwood is getting the British fashion industry all excited about her Valentine's Day return to London Fashion Week but just why is everyone so in love with her? Female First look at the history behind the Westwood name.
Every so often a designer comes along that really makes a mark on the fashion industry. They can change the way we think about clothes and the way we wear them.
Dame Vivienne Westwood is one such woman. One of the most famous designers ever to come out of Britain, she created punky, avant-garde clothing that has been popular since her first collections in the seventies.
She was born in 1941 in Derbyshire and studied at Harrow School of Art before attending Middlesex University, which was then known as Trent Park College. She originally began teaching at a primary school in London, and it wasn’t until she met her second husband, Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, that she entered the world of fashion.
He opened a now famous shop called Let It Rock on King’s Road where Vivienne still sells some of her clothing.
From the beginning they loved rock and roll selling records and fifties inspired clothing that was to become the basis of Vivienne’s work.
Her signature style is based around traditional punk and rock and roll. Leather, bondage, zips and chains were all used to create her unique and recognisable clothes. These revolutionary designs were donned by some of coolest bands around, like The Sex Pistols and The New York Dolls, and she has always been influenced by music.
Her style is also typically British with tartan fabric being one of her most popular, and unusual, choices.
She presented her first catwalk show, titled the ‘Pirate’ collection, in 1981. Based around gold, treasure and adventure, it featured models with gold teeth dancing to music they had playing on walkmans.
This was before she became the first English designer after Mary Quant to show a collection in Paris.
After delving into historical dress and costumes she experimented with cutting techniques and patterns, interpreting them into her own designs to create the extravagant clothing she is famous for.
In 1989 Vivienne was named among John Fairchild’s (Editor of Woman’s Wear Daily) Six Best Designers in the World and was the only woman to make the list.
Now truly established in the industry, and still with no formal fashion or design training of any kind, she was creating numerous collections and opening more shops in London to house her clothing.
Speaking about how her experiences affect her work as a designer in Fashion Now, a book featuring the world’s 150 most important designers, she said: “I had a cardinal change in my attitude after punk rock. I realised that my idea of attacking the establishment was naïve – if you try and attack the establishment, you actually feed the establishment. You give it all these ideas, it goes into mass manufacture and it has a big effect on the fashion industry world. So what I decided was to go very fast and not care about attacking anything. Just to come up with the ideas and not be held back in any way. And since then I’ve been miles down the road in front of anything.â€
She has used her influence and passion for fashion to join with British Civil Rights group Liberty in 1995 to launch a range of limited design t-shirts sporting the slogan I AM NOT A TERRORIST, please don’t arrest me. She has strong views on civil liberties and human rights.
Vivienne has been named British Designer of the Year three times, in 1990, 1991, and more recently in 2006.
In the same year she was made a Dame for services to fashion, after being awarded an OBE in 1992, only further cementing her place in history as one of the country’s most celebrated designers.
It wasn’t your average award collection though, in true extravagant Westwood style, she decided to go knicker-less for the occasion, giving a spin to reveal all.
One of the consistently exciting and original designers ever to come of England, Vivienne Westwood will be returning to home turf this year to present her Red collection at London Fashion Week.
Female First – Jacqueline Farrer