Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood(née Swire; 8 April 1941 – 29 December 2022) was an

English fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and
new wave fashions into the mainstream. In 2022, Sky Arts ranked her the 4th most influential
artist in Britain of the last 50 years.
Westwood came to public notice when she made clothes for the boutique that she and Malcolm
McLaren ran on King's Road, which became known as SEX. Their ability to synthesize clothing
and music shaped the 1970s UK punk scene, which included McLaren's band, the Sex Pistols.
She viewed punk as a way of "seeing if one could put a spoke in the system".
Westwood opened four shops in London and eventually expanded throughout Britain and the
world, selling a varied range of merchandise, some of which promoted her political causes such
as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, climate change and civil rights groups.

Life and career

Early years
Westwood was born in the village of Tintwistle, Cheshire, on 8 April 1941.She was the daughter
of Gordon Swire and Dora Swire (née Ball), who had married two years previously, two weeks
after the outbreak of the Second World War. 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, Greater London. Westwood took a jewelry 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 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 jewelry, 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.

Punk era

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".
Westwood’s emergence as a designer who made garments that reflected the economic, social,
and political contexts of 1970s Britain coincided with a disillusioned youth, who developed a
unique style of dress and musical expression which was instantly identifiable through its
aesthetic and sound.
Westwood’s boutique, originally managed with McLaren, was a meeting place for early members
of the London punk scene. The boutique regularly changed names and interior design through
the 1970s to fit with collections and design inspirations. It remains in its original location at 430
Kings Road, Chelsea, London (under the name Worlds End since 1979, following a short period
of closure in the 1980s) to this day.
McLaren and Westwood were keen entrepreneurs, and their designs sold in their boutique -
named Let It Rock, Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die, SEX, and subsequently Seditionares -
helped to define and market the punk look at the exact moment that it exploded in popularity on
the streets of London. Westwood’s designs during the Punk Era and thereafter were informed by
historicism; the V&A describing Westwood as “a meticulous researcher”. Westwood began
challenging gender norms and promoting experimentation in her designs, which at the outset
were created in collaboration with McLaren.
Initially, Westwood created garments refencing the dress of the 1950s Teddy Boys, which were
worn by McLaren. Upon opening Let It Rock in 1971, the first incarnation of Westwood and
McLaren’s boutique, early creations for the shop incorporated such influences reminiscent of the
youth subculture fashions of the 1950s. Inspired by the rebellious nature of the 1950s youth, Let
It Rock referenced the clothing, music, and décor of the immediate postwar era.
In 1972, Let It Rock was refashioned into Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die, in homage to the
death of James Dean. Though design references for garments retailed under Too Fast To Live
Too Young To Die focussed on the rocker aesthetic of the 1960s, the boutique still sold Teddy
Boy inspired garments under the Let It Rock label.The new politically leaning design inspirations
for Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die were conveyed through Westwood’s sleeveless T-shirts,
bearing various statements such as ‘PERV’ and ‘ROCK’, created using a combination of safety
pins, chicken bones, and glitter glue.
Two years later, in 1974, Westwood and McLaren’s boutique was re-modelled, and reopened as
SEX. Pieces sold in SEX were intentionally abrasive and challenging, with designs grounded in
fetish and sado-masochism, seeking to provoke a comfortable middle class and inspire young
punks into political action by challenging the status quo. Garments retailed at SEX included skirts
and dresses made from rubber.
SEX became a meeting point at the centre of the punk scene, and transformed into Seditionaries
in 1976. Clothing retailed at Seditionaries (Seditionaries: Clothes for Heroes) retained the familiar
references of SEX, including historicism, the challenging of gender norms, and fetish. However,
Seditionaries pieces were made from different cloths and fibres. The development of Westwood
signatures - bondage trousers covered with straps to restrict, ‘unravelling’ loose-knit jumpers
made of mohair, and long-sleeved tops fashioned from soft muslins, which featured graphic
screen printed designs and fastenings to the sleeves to give the effect of a straight-jacket -
during this period quickly became archetypal punk staples.
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 was disenchanted with the direction that adoptees had taken punk in, many of them
uninterested in punk's political values, viewing the style of the movement as a marketing
opportunity instead of a medium for radical change; with the dissolution of the Sex Pistols,
Westwood's inspiration for her eponymous line shifted instead to the 18th century.

Fashion collections

Westwood's designs were independent and represented a statement of her own values. She
collaborated on occasion 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" (during which time she created the famous
look of the band Adam and the Ants) 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 the 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.

Collections:

Savage, Spring-Summer 1982 – Flat cutting from Japan. – Inspired by: Matisse and Picasso. –
“In taking from other cultures I’m just doing what Picasso did in his painting Demoiselles
d’Avignon’” (Vivienne) – Examines rapport between clothes and the body. – Slashed sleeves and
contrast linings. – David Lynch’s ‘The Elephant Man’ inspired foreign legion hats.

Buffalo Girls (Nostalgia of Mud), Autumn-Winter 1982/83 – Colours: Mud. – Raw cut sheepskin. –
Bras – underwear as outerwear. – Inspiration: Peruvian women wearing bowler hats and full
skirts, dancing with their babies tied on their back.

Punkature, Spring-Summer 1983 – Inspiration: ‘Blade Runner’, desert landscape. – Distressed

fabric and recycled junk. – Punk and couture. – Hand-dyed, hand-stitched. – Shoes of disused
tyres and cord from favelas. – Giant tin can buttons. – The jersey Tube skirt.

Witches, Autumn-Winter 1983/84 – Visit to New York, met Keith Haring. His art looked like magic
signs and hieroglyphics. Therefore – collection “Witches”. – Hip Hop, styling of garments. – Stop-
frame look. – White trainers customised with three tongues. – Pointed Chico Marx hats.

Hypnos, Spring-Summer 1984 – Image: Greek God of Sleep – Collection nothing to do with
sleep. – Very active, sportswear as high fashion. – Collaboration with Malcolm McLaren ceased.
– Made in Italy. – Inspiration: gay subcultures. – Herpes sores makeup.

Clint Eastwood, Autumn-Winter 1984/85 – Vivienne said, “Sometimes you need to transport your
idea to an empty landscape and then populate it with fantastic looking people.” – Fluorescent big
macs and body stockings, clothes covered in company logos. – Day-Glo patches inspired by
Tokyo’s neon signs.

Mini-Crini, Spring-Summer 1985 – Cardinal change. Fitted clothes. – English tailoring. Princess
line coats, inspired by the Queen as a child. – Wish to kill masculine big shoulders of the 1980s.
– Models are sexy, and curvaceous. – Attention drawn to hips. – Inspiration: Petrushka. –
Rocking horse shoes.

Collections:
Harris Tweed, Autumn-Winter 1987/88 – Tailored and childish look inspired by Royal Family
continued. – Inspiration: British fabrics, especially wool which had provided all the uniforms of the
British Empire. – Black velvet. – 18th-century corsetry. – Fine twin sets. – Red Barathea Mini-
Crini.

Britain Must Go Pagan, Spring-Summer 1988 – Mythological, Greco-Roman themes. – Titled

‘England Must Go Pagan’ on invitations. – Exploring the 18th and 19th century ‘Age of
Enlightenment’. – Referencing the literature of Ancient Greece and Rome. – Typically structured
pieces, tailored, narrow proportions with cropped torsos.

Time Machine, Autumn-Winter 1988/89 – Named after H.G Wells’ novella. – Oscillating through
different eras – Tailored Harris Tweed suiting. – First reference of the Wallace Collection. –
Examining British culture and tradition. – Dedicated to Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple. – Men in
Norfolk jackets.

Civilizade, Spring-Summer 1989 – Fashion as a didactic tool. – A modern society. – Armoured

jackets, rugby jerseys, and harlequins. – Inspiration: mythological beasts. – Blown-up animal
print appears for the first time.

Voyage to Cythera, Autumn-Winter 1989/90 – Inspiration: Watteau, Commedia dell’ Arte and
Ballets Russes. – Tights worn without skirts. Inspiration: a man who forgot his trousers.- Classic
nudity and ancient sculpture. – Homeric themes.

Pagan V, Spring-Summer 1990 – Invitation matched penis sketched underwear. – Exploring

philosophies of Hellenistic Greece. – Sailor hats at an angle. – Pinstripes in abundance. – H.M.S
ARGO print. – Pyjama suits. – Inspiration: Vases in the Louvre. – Lampshade wiring.

Portrait, Autumn-Winter 1990/91 – Inspiration: Oil painting – the bravura of texture and display of
material wealth – Wish to have the luxury of the whole range of fabric from linen underwear to fur
(fake). – Furniture designed by Boulle in the Wallace Collection. – Painting by Boucher,
‘Shepherd watching a Sleeping Shepherdess’, to represent the paintings themselves –
photographic print. – High platform shoes put the woman on a pedestal like she had stepped out
of a painting.

Cut and Slash / Pitti Uomo, Spring-Summer 1991 – Slashed fabric – satin, cotton, denim. –
Inspiration: 16th and 17th century mania for cutting and slashing fabric, lasted for 200 years,
apparently inspired by a battle. – Codpiece revival. – Swashbuckling down the catwalk. –
Broderie Anglaise programme. – Chunky hand-knits.

Dressing Up, Autumn-Winter 1991/92 – Overt Maximalism. – Reimagining tropes and signatures.
Boulle patterns. – First collaboration with milliner Prudence. – Figure-hugging versus extremely
oversized. – Extended hemlines. – Leather Codpiece skirts.

Salon, Spring-Summer 1992 – The boundaries of gender. – Photographic prints of 18th century
lavishness on denim. – Inspiration: elitism and the intellectual’. – Berets and smocks. – Tulle ball
gowns. – Cut-out leather.

Always on Camera, Autumn-Winter 1992/93 – Inspiration: 1930’s Hollywood. – Movie star

stereotypes. – Storytelling with clothes. – Juxtaposing the Great Depression and recession. –
Marlene Dietrich as muse, shared Teutonic background with Andreas Kronthaler. – Stature of
Liberty corset. – Padded mohair knitwear. – Models as actors.