Fashion designer, activist and perennial rebel Vivienne Westwood has died. I was 81 years old

Vivienne Westwood died Thursday at the age of 81. release the brand. The English fashion designer and activist died “peacefully surrounded by his family in Clapham, south London.” The cause of death was not advanced.

“The world needs people like Vivienne to change it for the better,” the message reads.

UK Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan reacted to the designer’s death, saying Westwood “will continue to be a leading figure in British fashion.” “Her punk style of hers rewrote the rule book in the 1970s and she was greatly admired for how she stayed true to herself and her values ​​throughout her life.” he wrote Donate on Twitter. EITHER mayor from London, Sadiq Khan, said on the same social network that the designer was “a creative icon who helped cement the UK’s place at the forefront of modern fashion.”

December 29, 2022.

Vivienne Westwood died today, peacefully and surrounded by her family, in Clapham, south London.

The world needs people like Vivienne to make a change for the better. pic.twitter.com/YQwVixYUrV

— Vivienne Westwood (@FollowWestwood) December 29, 2022

Former Vogue International editor Suzy Menkes was incredulous at the death of the English fashion designer, calling her “daring” and “feminine”, an attitude that was contrary “to her deliberate sexuality, presented with an equally deliberate nerve”. attitude”. The fashion critic also recalled “the bold and sexually charged designs” of the 70s, the subsequent “romantic sensuality” and the fight for various causes that sought to “improve the world around them”.

English fashion journalist Alexandra Shulman recalled, on Instagram, “one of the most influential fashion designers of her time.” She “married a true understanding of fashion design with a rebellious aesthetic and passionate pre-fashion environmental beliefs. She never gave up the urge to question the status quo and she will be remembered as a woman who used her talents not only to make beautiful clothes, but also to draw attention to the issues that concerned her.”

In a brief reaction, Italian fashion designer and former Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele wrote on Instagram: “Please show rock heaven.”

Vivienne Westwood was born on April 8, 1941 in a town in Tintwhistle, England. Her career began in the 1970s. Her radical and unique approach to street style left a deep mark on the fashion industry.

Andrew Bolton, curator of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, told The Washington Post that Westwood will be remembered as the creator of “Sight punk”, by associating a radical approach to fashion with punk, which had the Sex Pistols as its main representatives. The band was led by the designer’s then partner, Malcolm McLaren, and it was Westwood who created the style for which they became known.

“They gave the punk movement a Sighta style, and it was so radical that it broke with everything that came from the past,” Bolton said, recalling the torn shirts, safety pins and slogans provocatives introduced by Westwood that are now part of the “fashion vocabulary”. “The punk movement never went away, it became part of the fashion vocabulary. Is now conventional.”

Vivienne Westwood is more punk than ever. And this documentary shows why.

“Vivienne Westwood gave birth to punk, conquered the haute couture industry and built a global empire,” recalls the BBC, describing her as a “revolutionary” who fed on hatred of corruption and global injustice and who he despaired of passivity. of the young generations. But the path to success was not easy. As the television channel recalls, the designer was on the verge of bankruptcy on several occasions. Little by little, he managed to make a place for himself in the world of fashion and make a fortune.

Dissatisfied, he embraced the environmental cause, fighting against global warming. He has donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to Britain’s Green Party, regularly visited Julian Assange and parked a white tank outside former Prime Minister David Cameron’s house at an anti-fracking protest. He supported various organizations such as Aids Research, PETA (which fights for animal rights) and Oxfam (for the eradication of poverty).

At 79, Vivienne Westwood locked herself in a cage in protest

Always rebellious, his favorite quote was from Aldous Huxley, author of amazing new world: “Orthodoxy is the grave of intelligence.”