Freedom Fighter: Vivienne Westwood: The endlessly provocative Fashion Designer

Freedom Fighter: Vivienne Westwood: The endlessly provocative Fashion Designer

Britain lost a second queen at the end of 2022, the regal figure in question being the iconoclastic and endlessly provocative fashion designer, VIVIENNE WESTWOOD.

“I’ve constantly tried to provoke people into thinking afresh and for themselves, to escape their inhibitions and programming.”
Traditionalist, provocateuse and ultra contemporary voice, Vivienne Westwood was one of British fashion’s most famous – and contradictory – designers. She helped create Punk with Malcolm McLaren, the Sex Pistols manager, with whom she sold off-the-peg bondage and fetish wear to prostitutes from their 430 King’s Road, London store, which in 1974 changed its name to SEX to coincide with its collections. She transitioned to the New Romantic period of the early ’80s (think dandy highwayman Adam Ant in turn-topped, buckled leather knee boots belting out “Stand and Deliver”) and parodied Britain’s upper classes by decade’s end.

From edgy printed protest T-shirts to sumptuously elegant ballgowns, Westwood was a meticulous researcher and “plunderer” began compiling her own Manifesto. Her relentless campaigning on climate change for the last 20 years has been a catalyst for change. She collaborated with Greenpeace in 2014 to Save the Arctic, and regularly protested fracking in the North of England (rolling up to Prime Minster David Cameron’s house on top of an armoured personnel carrier in 2015). She later championed Swedish eco-activist Greta Thunberg, as a potential great world leader whose influence would reduce global carbon emissions. Vivienne Westwood died on December 29 in Clapham, South London, the second queen to be prised from us during 2022. Westwood and Queen Elizabeth II – Westwood lampooned her on 1977’s Silver Jubilee T-shirts by putting a safety pin through the monarch’s mouth – shaped an era. Awarded an OBE by the Queen in 1992, Westwood famously twirled for photographers in her dress outside Buckingham Palace, only to reveal her “sans underwear” silhouette. The Queen was said to have been much amused, latterly. Westwood was subsequently awarded a Damehood for her services to fashion in 2006 by Prince Charles. Since her death, requests for the 1992 “knickerless” shot have sent algorithms spinning.

And what about those shoes? Who can forget Naomi Campbell falling flat on her derriere in Westwood’s vertiginous nine-inch platforms as part of the Paris autumn/winter ’93 show. And Kate Moss, who walked the runway topless wearing Marie-Antoinette face paint while slurping ice-cream for the Erotic Zones spring/summer ’95 extravaganza.

As the millennium came and went, Westwood leveraged her rebel aesthetic into a platform for activism. “Capitalism is a crime. It is the root cause of war, climate change and corruption,” she said, and began compiling her own Manifesto. Her relentless campaigning on climate change for the last 20 years has been a catalyst for change. She collaborated with Greenpeace in 2014 to Save the Arctic, and regularly protested fracking in the North of England (rolling up to Prime Minster David Cameron’s house on top of an armoured personnel carrier in 2015). She later championed Swedish eco-activist Greta Thunberg, as a potential great world leader whose influence would reduce global carbon emissions.

Vivienne Westwood died on December 29 in Clapham, South London, the second queen to be prised from us during 2022. Westwood and Queen Elizabeth II – Westwood lampooned her on 1977’s Silver Jubilee T-shirts by putting a safety pin through the monarch’s mouth – shaped an era. Awarded an OBE by the Queen in 1992, Westwood famously twirled for photographers in her dress outside Buckingham Palace, only to reveal her “sans underwear” silhouette. The Queen was said to have been much amused, latterly. Westwood was subsequently awarded a Damehood for her services to fashion in 2006, by Prince Charles. Since her death, requests for the 1992 “knickerless” shot have sent algorithms spinning.

Westwood considered Prince Charles a king among royals. In honour of his dedication to environmentalism, she wrote the following in her autumn/winter ’15 collection notes. “I want to pay tribute to Prince Charles. If he had ruled the world according to his priorities during the last 30 years, we would be all right and we would be tackling climate change.”

Andreas Kronthaler, Westwood’s husband and creative director said: “I will continue with Vivienne in my heart. We have been working until the end and she has given me plenty of things to get on with. Thank you darling.” Carlo D’Amario remainsas Vivienne Westwood Group CEO, and board member of Latimo, the entity regulating the group, while former BBC Clothes Show presenter and designer Jeff Banks has been made director at Vivienne’s behest, where he’ll represent the pair on the board of Latimo and Vivienne Westwood Ltd, the UK entity of the group.

Westwood led by example and lived a step ahead. A follower and collector of Chinese art and literature, she considered herself a Taoist. “Tao spiritual system. There was never more need for the Tao today. Tao gives you a feeling that you belong to the cosmos and gives purpose to your life; it gives you such a sense of identity and strength to know that you’re living the life you can live and therefore ought to be living: make full use of your character and full use of your life on earth.”

To which end, The Vivienne Foundation was launched, to honour, protect and perpetuate the legacy of Westwood’s life and activism. The not-for-profit company was set up by the designer in 2019. Working with NGOs, the foundation’s goal is built upon four pillars: Climate Change, Stop War, Defend Human Rights and Protest Capitalism. As Westwood insisted: “STOP Climate Change. This is a war for the very existence of the human race. And that of the planet. The most important weapon we have is public opinion. Become a freedom fighter.”

Fearless in the face of adversity, undaunted by criticism and driven by conviction, Westwood’s Get A Life! The Diaries of Vivienne Westwood, (2010-2016), is must-reading. She never stopped seeking solutions, even in the book’s final refrain. “What’s good for the planet is good for the economy. What’s bad for the planet is bad sor the economy. What’s good for people is good for the planet. Follow it like a rule of thumb.”

The Queen of British fashion is dead: long live Queen Viv.