Vivienne Westwood is a legend in her own lifetime, a designer who inspires many other designers and who makes clothes that delight her loyal customers. Born in Derbyshire in 1941, she first became a household name when, in partnership with Malcolm McLaren, she invented the punk uniform. Let It Rock, SEX, Seditionaries, Pirates, and Buffalo Girls were all early collections they created together at their shop, World’s End in Chelsea. All became classics and served to challenge common preconceptions of what fashion could be. Vivienne has gone on to become one of the most revered figures in the fashion industry. She has achieved all this without any formal training. In the 80s she was hailed by Women’s Wear Daily as one of the six most influential designers of all time, and in 2004 the Victoria & Albert Museum launched a travelling retrospective exhibition defining her iconic status. There is an intellectual method to the madness of Vivienne’s creative energy. Historical references, techniques and fabrics are intrinsic to her approach to design. The results are unconventional and alluring. Her subversive shapes and constructions have consistently proved to be ahead of their time. Vivienne was awarded an OBE 15 years after being arrested on the night of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. A myriad of awards have followed, including British Designer of the Year, twice. Today she shows her ready-to-wear women’s collection in Paris and a menswear collection, MAN, in Milan. While the interest in vintage Westwood has never been more intense, her diffusion line Anglomania regularly references pieces from her earlier collections. Vivienne also wrote a cultural Manifesto called Active Resistance to Propaganda as a call to arms for all intellectuals against passive acceptance of propaganda and obsessive consumption. In 2008 she showed her Red Label in London after almost a decade of absence from London Fashion Week and called on other British brands that now only show abroad to follow her example. Collaborating with photographer Juergen Teller on campaigns since fall winter 07/08 Teller has photographed Vivienne as model and muse to the label in various magnificent poses; bearing an axe, with a gang of Westwood fans, alongside husband Andreas Kronthaler but most famously with Pamela Anderson during the Obama campaign for the spring/summer 09 campaign. Vivienne continues to campaign towards climate change and environmental issues. 2011 saw the 40th Anniversary of the Vivienne Westwood brand. Most recently, Vivienne winked on the cover of Spring’s The Royalty Issue, photographed by Juergen Teller, interviewed inside by Terry Jones.
