Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne Westwood
Westwood in 2008.
Born	Vivienne Isabel Swire 8 April 1941 (1941-04-08) (age 69) Tintwistle, Derbyshire, England
Nationality	British
Education	University of Westminster, Middlesex University
Occupation	Fashion designer/Businesswoman
Labels	Vivienne Westwood
Awards	British Fashion Designer of the Year 1990, 1991 and 2006.
Spouse	Derek Westwood (1962–65) (divorced); 1 child Andreas Kronthaler (since 1992)
Children	Ben Westwood (born 1963) Joseph Corré (born 1967)

Dame Vivienne Westwood, DBE, RDI (born Vivienne Isabel Swire on 8 April 1941) is a British fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream.^[1]

Early life

Westwood was born Vivienne Isabel Swire in the village of Tintwistle, Derbyshire^{[N 1]} on 8 April 1941;^[2] the daughter of Gordon Swire and Dora Swire (née Ball), whom had married two years previously, in 1939, just two weeks after the outbreak of World War II.^[3] At the time of Vivienne's birth, her father was employed as a storekeeper in an aircraft factory, however he had previously worked as a greengrocer.^[3]

Aged 17, Vivienne and her family moved, to Harrow, London.^{[2][N 2]} She studied at the Harrow School of Art, taking fashion and silversmithing, but left because after one term, saying "I didn't know how a working-class girl like me could possibly make a living in the art world".^[4] After taking up a job in a factory and studying at a teacher-training college, Vivienne became a primary school teacher.^[2] During this period she also created her own jewellery, which she would sell at a stall on Portobello Road.^[2]

Vivienne met Derek Westwood, a Hoover factory aprentice, in 1961 in Harrow.^[5] They married on 21 July 1962 and Vivienne made her own wedding dress for the ceremony.^[5] In 1963 Westwood gave birth to a son, named Benjamin Westwood.^[5]

Malcolm McLaren

Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols wearing a Vivienne Westwood t-shirt

Upon meeting Malcolm McLaren, it signified the end of Westwood's marriage to Derek. Westwood and McLaren lived in a council flat in Clapham and Westwood continued to teach until 1971, when Malcolm decided to open a boutique at 430 King's Road - Let It Rock (also known as Sex, Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die, Seditionaries). Westwood began to sell her outrageous and outlandish designs in the shop, which drew inspiration from bikers, fetishists and prostitutes.^[6] During this period, McLaren became manager of the punk band Sex Pistols and subsequently the two garnered attention, as the band often wore Westwood's designs and shopped at 430 King's Road. Whilst living in their flat in Clapham, Westwood and McLaren had a child, another son named Joseph Corré. Westwood was heavily interested by the punk fashion phenomena of the 1970s, saying "I was messianic about punk, seeing if one could put a spoke in the system in some way".^[5] Westwood still owns this shop, which is now known as World's End, from which she sells her Anglomania label.

Punk era

The "punk style" included BDSM fashion, bondage gear, safety pins, razor blades, bicycle or lavatory chains on clothing and spiked dog collars for jewellery, as well as outrageous make-up and hair. Essential design elements include the adoption of traditional elements of Scottish design such as tartan fabric. Amongst the more unusual elements of her style is the use of historical 17th and 18th century cloth cutting principles, and reinterpreting these in, for instance, radical cutting lines to mens trousers. Use of these traditional elements make the overall effect of her designs more shocking.

Westwood and McLaren worked together to revolutionise fashion and their impact is still strongly felt today. Westwood has five exclusively-owned shops; three in London, one in Leeds, and one in Milan. Franchise stores are located in Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, three in Manchester and most recently, in FH Mall, Nottingham (20 March 2008), and in Blake Street, York (11 September 2008). Westwood's themes have included Savage (1981), Hobo and Buffalo (1982), and Pirate. Her latest collection was themed "Gold and Treasure, Adventure and Exploration".

Artistic collections

The pair of heels designed by Westwood which Naomi Campbell famously stumbled over in whilst modelling at a Vivienne Westwood fashion show in 1993^[7]

The first major retrospective of her work was shown in 2004–5 at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the National Gallery of Australia. The exhibition, created from approximately 145 complete outfits grouped into the themes from the early 1970s to the present day, was drawn from her own personal archive and the V&A's extensive collection. They range from early punk garments to glamorous "historical" evening gowns.

Her Autumn/Winter 2005/06 Propaganda Collection drew inspiration from her archive, reinterpreting designs using Wolford's exclusive knitting technology. Westwood has worked in close collaboration with Wolford since 2003. In 2006, she collaborated with Nine West, whose shoes are not designed directly by Westwood, however the Nine West brand name shares its label with Westwood. Westwood's Gold Label and MAN hats are created by Prudence Millinery. In December 2003, she and the Wedgwood pottery company launched a series of tea sets featuring her designs.

Artistic influence

Westwood has been influential in launching the careers of other designers into the British fashion industry. She employed the services of Patrick Cox to design shoes for her Clint Eastwood collection in 1984. The result was a prototype for nine-inch-heeled shoes like the ones worn by supermodel Naomi Campbell when she fell during a Westwood fashion show in Paris in 1994.

Sex and the City

Demonstrating the impact of her long career, Westwood's designs were featured in the 2008 film adaptation of the award winning television series Sex and the City. In the film version of the television series, Carrie Bradshaw becomes engaged to long term lover Mr. Big. Being a writer at Vogue, her editor invites her to model wedding dresses for an upcoming article called "The Last Single Girl". One of the dresses featured in the photo shoot is a design made by Westwood and it is subsequently sent to Carrie as a gift, with a handwritten note from Westwood herself. Although she has already picked an outfit for the wedding, Carrie immediately decides to wear the Westwood gown instead. Despite being invited to participate in the making of the movie, Westwood was unimpressed with the costuming by renowned stylist Patricia Field. She walked out of the film's London premiere after 10 minutes, publicly criticising the clothing featured as being frumpy and boring. The wedding dress has subsequently become widely recognised as one of the movie's most iconic features and has led Westwood to approach the producers about being involved in making a sequel.^[8]

Political involvement

Westwood is also widely known as a political activist. On Easter Sunday 2008, she campaigned in person at the biggest Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament demonstration in ten years, at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston, Berkshire.^[9]

Westwood's clothing bearing political messages on display at an exhibition in Sheffield

In September 2005, Westwood joined forces with the British civil rights group Liberty and launched exclusive limited design T-shirts and baby wear bearing the slogan I AM NOT A TERRORIST, please don't arrest me. Westwood said she was supporting the campaign and defending habeas corpus. "When I was a schoolgirl, my history teacher, Mr. Scott, began to take classes in civic affairs. The first thing he explained to us was the fundamental rule of law embodied in habeas corpus. He spoke with pride of civilisation and democracy. The hatred of arbitrary arrest by the lettres de cachet of the French monarchy caused the storming of the Bastille. We can only take democracy for granted if we insist on our liberty", she said.^[10] The sale of the £50 T-shirts raised funds for the organisation. In April 1989 Westwood appeared on the cover of Tatler dressed as then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The suit which Westwood wore had been ordered for Thatcher but had not yet been delivered.^[11] Westwood's appearance on Tatler reportedly infuriated Thatcher.^[11] The cover, which bore the title "this woman was once a punk", has become memorable cover for the magazine and was included in The Guardian's list of the best ever UK magazine covers.^[12] Additionally, the cover date, April 1989, on the magazine bares the words "April fool".^[13] Dame Vivienne has recently stated on television that she has transferred her long standing support for the Labour Party to the Conservative Party, over the issues of civil liberties and human rights.^[14]

In a 2007 interview she spoke out against what she perceives as the "drug of consumerism",^[15], and she attended the première of The Age of Stupid, a film aiming to motivate the public to act against climate change.^[16] She created a manifesto of Active Resistance to Propaganda,^[17] which deals with the pursuit of art in relation to the human predicament and climate change.^[18] Against the claim that anti-consumerism and fashion contradict each other, she said in 2007 that "I don't feel comfortable defending my clothes. But if you've got the money to afford them, then buy something from me. Just don't buy too much".^[18]

Recognition

In 2007 Glossopdale Community College named one of its newly created houses, "Westwood", after the designer. Singer Gwen Stefani regularly mentions Westwood on her 2004 album Love. Angel. Music. Baby., in particular on the tracks "Rich Girl" and "Harajuku Girls". In a later interview Stefani told of how Westwood is her favourite designers, saying "Vivienne Westwood is one of my all-time favourites. I'd give all my money to her and buy all her clothes!"^[19]

In 1992 Westwood was awarded an OBE, which she collected from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.^[20] At the ceremony, Westwood was knicker-less, which was later captured by a photographer in the courtyard of Buckingham Palace. Westwood later said "I wished to show off my outfit by twirling the skirt. It did not occur to me that, as the photographers were practically on their knees, the result would be more glamorous than I expected",^[21] and added "I have heard that the picture amused the Queen".^[21] Westwood advanced from OBE to DBE in the 2006 New Year's Honours List for services to fashion,^[20] and has thrice earned the award for British Designer of the Year. Westwood is the godmother of highfashion model and socialite lady Elissa Spencer-Wilhelmsen Ainsworth, and was the one who discovered designer Rosamund Lodge-Ainsworth who happens to be Lady Elissa's sister-in-law, after marrying lord Philip Spencer-Wilhelmsen Ainsworth. Westwood and the bride designed the wedding dress and she attended the wedding with her sons.

Personal life

Dame Vivienne Westwood is currently married to her former fashion student, Austrian-born Andreas Kronthaler. For 30 years Westwood lived in the council flat in Clapham until, in 2000, Kronthaler convinced Westwood to move into a Queen Anne style house built in 1703, which once belonged to the mother of Captain Cook.^[22] Westwood does not watch television or read newspapers or magazines, however she is a keen gardener.^[23]

Children

• Ben Westwood, son of Vivienne and Derek Westwood, is a photographer of erotica.
• Joseph Corré, son of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, is the founder of lingerie brand Agent Provocateur.^[24]

Notes

References

External links

• Paris Fashion Show 2007: Vivienne Westwood catwalk
• The Incomplete Sordid works of Vivienne Westwood & Malcolm McLaren for their stores SEX and Seditionaries
• "Vivienne Westwood exhibition website, featuring resources and activities". Victoria and Albert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1231_vivienne_westwood/. 
• Vivienne Westwood on ELLE TV