Vivienne Westwood died "peacefully and surrounded" by her family her fashion house said on Thursday. She was 81.
According to her design brand, Vivienne Westwood passed away "peacefully and surrounded" by her family on Thursday, December 29. She was 81. The statement from her fashion brand on Instagram read, "The world needs people like Vivienne to make a change for the better." She lived a remarkable life. Her contribution to invention over the past 60 years has been enormous and will endure.
There was no mention of the reason of death. Andreas Kronthaler, her husband and co-creator, remarked that they "had been working to the end and she has given me lots of things to get on with." She started her fashion career in the 1970s and rapidly became well-known for her gritty, punk-inspired creations.
Even though Westwood's name became synonymous with style because she changed her emphasis from year to year, her work always had a rebellious spirit. In her 2014 biography, Westwood stated, "The only reason I am in fashion is to demolish the phrase 'conformity. "Unless it has that element, nothing interests me," the speaker said. When Naomi Campbell struggled to maintain her balance while wearing a pair of Westwood's nine-inch platform heels, the supermodel nearly shattered her ankle. Westwood famously sent a bare-breasted Kate Moss down the runway while snacking on ice cream.
With her distinctive orange or white hair, Westwood was easily recognisable and steadfastly anti-establishment. The causes of her protest T-shirts or posters on the runway included climate change, pollution, and her support of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
In 2018, Westwood admitted to having a political objective to the fashion publication L'Officiel. "I've challenged the status quo through clothes." She was a strong opponent of fast fashion and a trailblazer in the use of ethical and environmentally friendly materials in her designs. She remarked, "I just tell people to quit buying clothes. While we still have this gift of life, why not preserve it? I disagree with the viewpoint that destruction is unavoidable. Some of us want to put a stop to that and aid in people's survival.
She ultimately received the establishment's uneasy approval due to her support for environmental causes. Throughout her career, she garnered various honours for her contributions to the fashion business, including being created a Dame by Queen Elizabeth in 2006. Westwood was referred to as "a truly unique and bold pioneer" by another designer. She was "a creative icon who helped cement the UK at the very forefront of modern fashion," according to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
Boy George remembered Westwood as "the undisputed Queen of British fashion" and posted a photo of himself with her on his Twitter page. Billy Idol, a singer and fellow punk hero, posted on Facebook that her death was "too much." For those of us who admired her sense of style and cultural influences, she played a significant role in our lives, he wrote.
"Vivienne was a Dame and a cornerstone of the anti-establishment," said Stella Assange in a letter uploaded on social media by her husband Julian, who is being incarcerated in Belmarsh jail. brave, inventive, considerate, and a fantastic friend. Britain's finest. She will be sorely missed by myself and many others.
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