Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood (born Swire; 8 April 1941 – 29 December 2022) was a British fashion designer and entrepreneur who played a pivotal role in bringing punk and new wave styles into mainstream fashion. In 2022, Sky Arts recognized her as the fourth most influential artist in Britain over the past five decades.
Westwood first gained public recognition through her work at the boutique she co-owned with Malcolm McLaren on King’s Road, later renamed Sex. Their fusion of fashion and music helped define the UK punk movement of the 1970s, particularly through McLaren’s association with the Sex Pistols. She saw punk as an opportunity to challenge societal norms and disrupt the status quo.
Over time, Westwood expanded her brand, launching four stores in London before growing her presence across Britain and internationally. Her collections featured a diverse selection of designs, many of which reflected her activism, supporting causes such as nuclear disarmament, climate change awareness, and civil rights movements.
Early Life and Career
Vivienne Westwood was born on 8 April 1941 in Hollingworth, Cheshire, and spent her childhood in the nearby village of Tintwistle. She was the daughter of Gordon and Dora Swire (née Ball), who had married in 1939, just two weeks after the onset of World War II. At the time of her birth, her father worked as a storekeeper in an aircraft factory, having previously made a living as a greengrocer.
In 1958, her family relocated to Harrow, Greater London. Westwood briefly attended the University of Westminster—then known as Harrow Art School—where she enrolled in a jewellery and silversmithing course. However, she left after just one term, feeling uncertain about how someone from a working-class background could succeed in the art world. She took a job in a factory before pursuing teacher training, eventually becoming a primary school teacher. During this time, she designed and sold her own handmade jewellery at a stall on Portobello Road.
In 1962, she met Derek Westwood, an apprentice at the Hoover factory in Harrow. The two were married on 21 July 1962, with Vivienne designing and sewing her own wedding dress. The following year, she gave birth to their son, Benjamin.
Malcolm McLaren: A Fateful Meeting
Vivienne Westwood’s relationship with Derek Westwood came to an end when she met Malcolm McLaren. The two moved into Thurleigh Court in Balham, and in 1967, they welcomed their son, Joseph Corré. Westwood balanced teaching until 1971 while also bringing McLaren’s clothing ideas to life. When McLaren became the manager of the Sex Pistols, the couple’s influence on the punk movement became undeniable, as the band regularly wore their designs, drawing widespread attention.
Revolutionizing Fashion Through Punk
Westwood wasn’t just a designer—she was a disruptor. Her vision for punk went beyond clothing; it was a challenge to the status quo. As she put it, “I was messianic about punk, seeing if one could put a spoke in the system in some way.” Her rise as a designer coincided with a restless youth culture that rejected convention, using fashion and music as forms of rebellion and self-expression.
The boutique she co-ran with McLaren quickly became a hub for London’s burgeoning punk scene. Always evolving, the shop constantly reinvented itself—changing names, interiors, and themes to reflect new inspirations. Despite its transformations, the store remains a landmark of Westwood’s legacy. Since 1980, it has been known as Worlds End, standing strong at 430 Kings Road in Chelsea, London, long after its brief closure in the 1980s.
Entrepreneurial Spirit and the Birth of Punk Fashion
Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren were not just designers—they were savvy entrepreneurs who understood the power of fashion in shaping cultural movements. Their boutique, which evolved through multiple identities—Let It Rock, Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die, Sex, and later Seditionaries—became the epicenter of punk fashion just as it was gaining traction on the streets of London. Westwood’s creations during this era, and in the years that followed, reflected a deep engagement with history. The Victoria and Albert Museum once described her as “a meticulous researcher.” From the beginning, her designs challenged gender conventions and encouraged experimentation, with early collections developed in close collaboration with McLaren.
Westwood’s first major influences stemmed from the 1950s Teddy Boy subculture, a style McLaren himself often wore. When they launched Let It Rock in 1971, their designs embraced the rebellious energy of postwar youth, incorporating the music, fashion, and attitude of the era.
In 1972, the boutique underwent its first transformation, re-emerging as Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die, a tribute to the late James Dean. This phase shifted its aesthetic toward 1960s rocker culture while still selling Teddy Boy-inspired pieces under the original Let It Rock label. It was during this period that Westwood’s work took on more overtly political undertones, notably in her sleeveless T-shirts emblazoned with provocative phrases like ‘PERV’ and ‘ROCK’, constructed with unconventional materials such as safety pins, chicken bones, and glitter glue.
By 1974, the boutique had undergone another radical reinvention, reopening as Sex. This iteration was intentionally confrontational, using elements of fetishwear and sadomasochism to push boundaries and provoke mainstream society. Westwood and McLaren sought to inspire young punks into political action by rejecting conventional norms. The shop’s inventory included rubber dresses and skirts, as well as T-shirts featuring explicit imagery. Deliberate rips, oversized zippers, and provocative cuts became defining characteristics of the garments, reinforcing the boutique’s reputation as a rebellious, avant-garde space.
Sex served as a nexus in the heart of the punk scene, eventually morphing into Seditionaries in 1976. While the clothing sold under Seditionaries (titled Seditionaries: Clothes for Heroes) maintained many of Sex’s signature elements—historical references, the defiance of gender norms, and a flirtation with fetish aesthetics—the fabrics and fibers used in Seditionaries pieces diverged significantly. This era saw the birth of iconic Westwood elements: bondage trousers festooned with restrictive straps, jumpers crafted from unraveled, loosely knit mohair, and long-sleeved tops constructed from soft muslin featuring bold, screen-printed graphics. These tops were ingeniously designed with sleeve fastenings that evoked the look of a straitjacket, instantly establishing themselves as archetypal punk staples.
Westwood’s influence extended well beyond her own creations, shaping the aesthetic of punk luminaries like Viv Albertine. In her memoir, Albertine recalled, “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.”
An exemplary piece from this creative period is the hand screen-printed cotton dress and sash from the Pirate collection (1981), a collaboration between Westwood and Malcolm McLaren. This work is now part of the collection at the Museum of Art Rhode Island.
Disillusioned by the commercialization of punk by those who had adopted the style without embracing its political core, Westwood grew critical of the direction many punk enthusiasts were taking—seeing punk more as a marketing opportunity than a tool for radical change. With the disbanding of the Sex Pistols, her creative inspiration for the namesake brand shifted dramatically toward the 18th century. Westwood found particular fascination in the era of pirates and the Incroyables and merveilleuses—a revolutionary movement among nobles who, having survived the turmoil of the French Revolution, often referenced the guillotine that had claimed many of their kin.
Fashion Collections
Vivienne Westwood’s designs were a declaration of her own values—bold, independent, and steeped in historical context. Occasionally collaborating with Gary Ness, who contributed ideas and collection titles, Westwood’s work continued to push boundaries.
The groundbreaking Pirate collection—developed in partnership with Malcolm McLaren—was the first fashion offering presented to both the media and international buyers. This collection merged influences from 18th and 19th-century attire, British historical motifs, and textiles with African prints. It marked Westwood’s inaugural foray into weaving historical inspiration into contemporary couture, with the Pirate runway itself featuring an eclectic mix of rap and ethnic music. Their collaborative journey, branded with both their names on every label, went on to produce collections in Paris and London under thematic titles such as Savages (late 1981), Buffalo/Nostalgia Of Mud (spring 1982), Punkature (late 1982), Witches (early 1983), and Worlds End 1984 (later rebranded as Hypnos, shown in late 1983). After the dissolution of her partnership with McLaren, Westwood unveiled one final collection under the Worlds End label: Clint Eastwood (late 1984–early 1985).
The ‘Mini-Crini,’ 1985–87
She labeled the period from 1981 to 1985 as “New Romantic”—the era during which she fashioned the iconic look for the band Adam and the Ants—and from 1988 to 1991 as “The Pagan Years,” when “Vivienne’s heroes transitioned from punks and ragamuffins to Tatler girls donning attire that satirized the upper class.” Between 1985 and 1987, Westwood drew inspiration from the ballet Petrushka to create the mini-crini, a shortened take on the traditional Victorian crinoline. Its abbreviated length and voluminous, puffed silhouette went on to influence the balloon-like skirts that were later popularized by more established designers like Christian Lacroix. In 1989, the mini-crini was characterized as a fusion of two opposing concepts—the crinoline, symbolizing a “mythology of restriction and encumbrance in woman’s dress,” and the miniskirt, embodying an “equally dubious mythology of liberation.” Westwood furthered her exploration of fashion history by examining garments housed in museum collections, a study reflected in her incorporation of neck ruffs, corsets, bustles, breeches, and paniers across her various collections. Inspirations drawn from the works of artists such as Jean-Antione Watteau, Anthony van Dyck, and François Boucher have informed several of Westwood’s pieces, including scarves, corsets, and leggings.
For the Autumn-Winter 1987/88 season, Westwood presented the ‘Harris Tweed’ collection, which marked the beginning of her enduring collaboration with the Scottish fabric Harris tweed and the Harris Tweed Authority. This collection is frequently credited with playing a pivotal role in reviving the fabric’s status as a fashionable material, thereby invigorating the local industry. Within this collection, she also introduced the Orb logo—an emblem resembling the Sovereign’s Orb with a satellite ring akin to that encircling Saturn. This design choice ignited considerable controversy due to its striking similarity to the Orb Mark of the Harris Tweed Authority (then known as The Harris Tweed Association).
Following her passing, the Harris Tweed Authority issued the following statement:
“In the late 1980s, Vivienne Westwood began using a logo which, we believe, acknowledged her connection with and affection for our esteemed cloth. Although this may not have been embraced by everyone within the Harris Tweed® community, the subsequent collaboration between our brands has proven mutually beneficial. We look forward to many more years of such fruitful partnership.”
In 2007, Westwood was approached by Patricia Rawlings, the Chair of King’s College London, to design an academic gown for the institution following its successful petition to the Privy Council for degree-awarding rights. The Westwood-designed academic dresses for King’s College were unveiled in 2008. Commenting on the gowns, Westwood stated, “Through my reworking of the traditional robe I tried to link the past, the present and the future. We are what we know.”
In 2008, King’s College London introduced a series of academic gowns in various hues, all designed and presented by Westwood. Then, in July 2011, Westwood’s collections were showcased at The Brandery fashion show in Barcelona.
Westwood collaborated closely with Richard Branson to create uniforms for the Virgin Atlantic crew. For the female crew, the uniform featured a red suit designed to emphasize the natural curves and hips, incorporating strategically placed darts around the bust. Meanwhile, the male uniform was a grey and burgundy three-piece suit adorned with detailed accents on the lapels and pockets. Both Westwood and Branson shared a commitment to sustainability in fashion, using recycled polyester in their designs to lessen environmental impact.
Vivienne Westwood Companies
In March 2012, the Vivienne Westwood Group finalized an agreement to terminate a long-established UK franchise arrangement with Manchester-based Hervia, which had operated seven retail locations for the brand. This deal resolved a legal dispute that had included Hervia initiating High Court proceedings for an alleged breach of contract after Westwood attempted to end the franchise agreement ahead of schedule. The subsequent transfer of several Hervia stores to Westwood, coupled with notable cost savings, was credited with boosting Vivienne Westwood Ltd’s pre-tax profits nearly tenfold—from £527,683 the previous year to £5 million.
The following year, the company announced:
“Over the last year margins have been under pressure due to the nature of wider retail conditions.”
A Vivienne Westwood store in Cardiff in 2014
Shortly thereafter, Westwood declared that she would halt further expansion of her business as a means of addressing environmental and sustainability concerns.
In March 2015, the company revealed plans to inaugurate a three-story outpost in midtown Manhattan, New York City. This announcement was soon followed by the launch of a new 3,200-square-foot (300 m²) boutique, situated in the same building that housed the company’s offices and showrooms on Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris, which opened in early 2016.
By December 2015, Vivienne Westwood Ltd operated 12 retail stores across the UK, including an outlet in Bicester Village. Globally, there were 63 Westwood shops, with nine in China, nine in Hong Kong, 18 in South Korea, six in Taiwan, two in Thailand, and two in the United States.
Tax Fine and Perception
In August 2011, Vivienne Westwood Ltd reached an agreement to pay £350,000 in tax, plus £144,112 in interest due in 2009, to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for underestimating the value of her brand. Her UK enterprise had sold the rights to her trademarks to the Luxembourg-based company Latimo—which she controlled—for £840,000 in 2002. Upon reviewing the deal, HMRC contended that the brand had been undervalued, and the resulting £2 million valuation prompted additional tax liabilities.
The financial statements for Vivienne Westwood Ltd indicated that since 2011, the company had been disbursing £2 million annually to the offshore entity Latimo for the license to use Westwood’s name on her own fashion label. Latimo, which Westwood controlled as the majority shareholder, was established in 2002. Although these arrangements were legal, they conflicted with the Green Party’s policy calling for the elimination of tax havens such as Luxembourg. In March 2015, Westwood remarked, “It is important to me that my business affairs are in line with my personal values. I am subject to UK tax on all of my income.” Later that year, she stated that she had restructured her corporate tax arrangements in an effort to better align them with the Green Party’s policies.
Criticism by Eluxe Magazine Over Sustainability of Westwood Clothing
In 2013, sustainable luxury fashion publication Eluxe Magazine accused Westwood of exploiting the green movement as a marketing ploy, noting that some of her fashion and accessories lines were produced in the People’s Republic of China. The products were found to contain materials such as PVC, polyester, rayon, and viscose—all derived from environmentally harmful chemicals. Eluxe contended that despite Westwood’s assertions urging consumers to “buy less,” her company produced nine collections annually compared to the average designer’s two. The magazine also criticized Westwood for allegedly employing unpaid interns in her fashion house, with reports that these interns worked in excess of 40 hours per week and had raised concerns about their treatment.
Notable Clients and Commissions
In 1993, Westwood crafted many of the vibrant suits and ensembles that Duran Duran sported during their tour for The Wedding Album. These designs were also featured in the three music videos for the album—”Ordinary World”, “Come Undone”, and “Too Much Information”.
Dita Von Teese chose a purple Westwood gown for her formal wedding ceremony when she married Marilyn Manson in 2005.
Marion Cotillard made a striking appearance in a red satin strapless dress by Westwood at the London premiere of her film Public Enemies in 2009. Later, in 2013, she donned a pink and ivory striped Westwood Couture dress at the Chopard luncheon in Cannes.
In 2011, Princess Eugenie wore three separate Westwood creations for the pre-wedding dinner, the wedding ceremony, and the subsequent celebration at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.
Pharrell Williams was seen sporting a Westwood Buffalo hat—originally part of Westwood’s 1982–83 collection—at the 2014 56th Annual Grammy Awards. The hat became so iconic that it even spawned its own Twitter account. Notably, Williams was first spotted wearing a similar Westwood Buffalo hat in 2009.
Dua Lipa graced the red carpet at the 2021 Brit Awards in a custom-made Westwood outfit.
Additionally, in the video game Final Fantasy XV, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret’s wedding dress was designed by Westwood, further cementing her influence in diverse creative arenas.
Sex and the City
Westwood’s creations featured prominently in the 2008 film adaptation of the television series Sex and the City. In the movie, Carrie Bradshaw becomes engaged to her long-time partner, Mr. Big. As a writer for Vogue, Carrie is invited by her editor to model wedding dresses, one of which is a design by Westwood. The dress is then sent to Carrie as a gift, accompanied by a handwritten note from Westwood herself, leading Carrie to choose the Westwood gown. This wedding dress has been hailed as one of the film’s most memorable elements, prompting Westwood to approach the producers about participating in a sequel. A version of the gown was later made available for purchase on Net-a-porter, selling out within hours. It was offered as a knee-length rendition.
Political Involvement
In April 1989, Westwood graced the cover of Tatler dressed as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The suit Westwood wore had originally been commissioned for Thatcher but had not yet been delivered. The cover, featuring the caption “This woman was once a punk,” was later included in The Guardian‘s list of the greatest UK magazine covers of all time.
In September 2005, Westwood joined forces with the British civil rights organization Liberty to launch a range of exclusive, limited-edition T-shirts and baby wear emblazoned with the slogan “I AM NOT A TERRORIST, please don’t arrest me.” She explained that she was supporting the campaign and defending the principle of habeas corpus. “When I was a schoolgirl, my history teacher, Mr. Scott, began to give lessons in civic affairs. The first thing he explained to us was the fundamental rule of law embodied in habeas corpus. He spoke with pride of civilisation and democracy.
The hatred of arbitrary arrest by the lettres de cachet of the French monarchy led to the storming of the Bastille. We can only take democracy for granted if we insist on our liberty,” she stated. The sale of the £50 T-shirts raised funds for the organization. On television in 2007, Westwood mentioned that she had shifted her long-standing support from the Labour Party to the Conservatives over concerns regarding civil liberties and human rights.
On Easter Sunday 2008, she actively campaigned at the largest Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament demonstration in a decade, held at the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldermaston, Berkshire.
The next year, she cut off her hair to highlight the dangers of climate change. She also appeared in a PETA ad campaign to promote World Water Day and vegetarianism, drawing attention to the meat industry’s water consumption.
In 2014, Westwood bought a controlling interest in the equity crowdfunding platform Trillion Fund, which was dissolved in 2019.
In January 2015, Westwood stated her support of the Green Party: “I am investing in the Green Party because I believe it is in the best interests of our country and our economy”. It was reported that she had donated £300,000 to fund the party’s election campaign. In February 2015, Westwood was announced as the special guest on the Greens’ We Are The Revolution campaigning tour of English universities in such cities as Liverpool, Norwich, Brighton and Sheffield.
On the eve of the tour, Westwood was excluded from appearing by the youth wing of the Green Party due to her avoidance of UK corporate tax, which contravened party policy on usage of off-shore tax havens. She later condemned this as “a wasted opportunity” for the Greens. “I wasn’t pure enough for them”, she wrote in her online diary. Subsequently, Westwood switched her support to campaigning on behalf of Nigel Askew, the ‘We are the Reality Party’ candidate opposing UKIP leader Nigel Farage in the Kent constituency of Thanet South. Askew polled 126 votes in the election.
In June 2017, Westwood endorsed Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for the 2017 general election. She said, “I’m excited about the Labour Party manifesto because it’s all about the fair distribution of wealth.” She added “Jeremy clearly wants to go green and creating a fair distribution of wealth is the place to start, from there we can build a green economy which will secure our future.” In November 2019, along with other public figures, Westwood signed a letter supporting Corbyn that described him as “a beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world” and endorsed him in the 2019 UK general election.
Active Resistance manifesto
In a 2007 interview, Westwood spoke out against what she perceived as the “drug of consumerism”. She said: “I don’t feel comfortable defending my clothes. But if you’ve got the money to afford them, then buy something from me. Just don’t buy too much” in response to claims that anti-consumerism and fashion contradict each other.
Later, Westwood created a manifesto called Active Resistance to Propaganda, which she said deals with the pursuit of art in relation to the human predicament and climate change. She claimed that her manifesto “penetrates to the root of the human predicament and offers the underlying solution. We have the choice to become more cultivated and therefore more human – or by muddling along as usual we shall remain the destructive and self-destroying animal, the victim of our own cleverness.” The manifesto was read by Westwood at a number of venues including the London Transport Museum and distributed after readings as a booklet. It was then written in the form of a play and staged at the Bloomsbury Ballroom by Forbidden London and Dave West on 4 December 2009. It starred Michelle Ryan and a number of other British actors.
Westwood’s manifesto was criticized by eco-activists who claimed that despite her calls to save the environment, she herself made no concessions to making her clothing or her business eco-friendly.
Julian Assange and WikiLeaks
Westwood was a longtime supporter of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, and called for his release from custody. In June 2013, Westwood dedicated one of her collections to Chelsea Manning and at her fashion show she and all her models wore large image badges of Manning with the word “Truth” under her picture. In 2012, she used her appearances at London Fashion Week to push for Assange’s release by presenting “I am Julian Assange” t-shirts.
She visited him several times during his political asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and in Belmarsh Prison after his arrest in April 2019. In July 2020, she protested outside London’s Old Bailey court against Assange’s possible extradition to the United States by wearing a yellow pantsuit and suspending herself in a giant birdcage. Describing herself as the canary in the coal mine, she said she was “half-poisoned already from government corruption of law and gaming of the legal system by government”.
For Assange’s wedding to Stella Moris in March 2022 in Belmarsh Prison, the groom wore an outfit based on a Scottish kilt and the bride a dress with a graffiti application, both designs by Westwood and her husband, Austrian fashion designer Andreas Kronthaler.
Books
Westwood was also a noted author or co-author of books, such as Fashion in Art: The Second Empire and Impressionism, in which she explored the worlds of fashion and the arts and the links between them.
Vivienne Westwood Opus 2008 limited edition was published for London Fashion Week 2008, documents Westwood’s work and is also a unique work of art. The book measures 35.4 by 25.2 inches (90 cm × 64 cm), weighs 44 pounds (20 kg), with a total limited edition of 900. There are 9 different covers and titles each numbered 1 to 100: manifesto, cockroach propaganda, pirate squiggle, propaganda eyes, I am expensive, AR-Vivienne Westwood, innocent, active resistance to propaganda and union jack.
The Opus contains 97 large-format Polaroid photographs, each measuring 19.7 by 23.6 inches (50 cm × 60 cm). The subjects include Westwood, her friends and models, including Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Jerry Hall, Georgina May-Jagger, the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson, Tim Burton, Sir Bob Geldof, Jasmine Guinness, and Helena Bonham Carter.
Recognition
In the 1992 Birthday Honours, Westwood was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to fashion design. She received her medal from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace; at the ceremony, Westwood wore nothing but sheer tights with a reinforced bikini top under her skirt, which was later captured by a photographer in the courtyard of the Palace. Westwood later said, “I wished to show off my outfit by twirling the skirt.
It did not occur to me that, as the photographers were practically on their knees, the result would be more glamorous than I expected,” and added: “I have heard that the picture amused the Queen.” Westwood advanced from OBE to Dame Commander of the same Order (DBE) in the 2006 New Year Honours “for services to British fashion”, and earned the award for British Designer of the Year on three occasions.
She was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).
Westwood was awarded a Fellowship at King’s College London in 2007, and in 2008 she designed 20 new academic gowns and hoods for King’s students to wear at their graduation ceremonies. In 2008, Heriot-Watt University awarded Westwood an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters for her contribution to the industry and use of Scottish textiles.
In January 2011, Westwood was featured in a Canadian-made television documentary called Vivienne Westwood’s London in which she takes the viewer through her favourite parts of London, including the Courtauld Institute of Art, the Wallace Collection, Whitechapel (accompanied by Sara Stockbridge), Hampton Court, the London Symphony Orchestra, Brixton Market and Electric Avenue, and the National Gallery.
In 2012, Westwood was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork – the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover – to celebrate the British cultural figures of his life that he most admires. Also in 2012, Westwood was chosen as one of The New Elizabethans to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
A panel of seven academics, journalists and historians named Westwood among a group of 60 people in the UK “whose actions during the reign of Elizabeth II have had a significant impact on lives in these islands and given the age its character”. A tartan outfit designed by Westwood featured on a commemorative UK postage stamp issued by the Royal Mail in 2012, celebrating Great British Fashion.
In October 2014, the authorised biography Vivienne Westwood by Ian Kelly was published by Picador. Paul Gorman described it as “sloppy” and “riddled with inaccuracies” on the basis of multiple errors in the book including misspelling the names of popular rock stars “Jimmy” Hendrix and Pete “Townsend” and misidentifying the date of the Sex Pistols’ first concert and McLaren’s age when he died.
Regarding Gorman’s claims, Picador publisher Paul Baggaley told The Bookseller: “We always take very seriously any errors that are brought to our attention and, where appropriate, correct them.” A spokesman for Macmillan Publishers, which published an Australian edition of the biography, confirmed that the matter was being handled by the publisher’s lawyers.
In 2016, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, acquired a Tits t-shirt, designed by McLaren and sold at Seditionaries between 1976 and 1980.
In 2018, a documentary film about Westwood, called Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist, premiered. The next year, Isabel Sanches Vegara wrote and Laura Callaghan illustrated Vivienne Westwood, one of the series, Little People, Big Dreams, published by Frances Lincoln Publishing.
In 2022, the documentary ”ART LOVERS UNITE!” starring Vivienne Westwood, directed by Patrick J. Thomas & Dacob, had its world premiere at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival in Australia.
Personal life
Westwood had two children. Ben Westwood (born 1963) is her son with first husband Derek Westwood; he is a photographer of erotica. Her second son, Joseph Corré (born 1967) with second husband Malcolm McLaren, is the founder of lingerie brand Agent Provocateur. Cora Corré, activist and model, is her granddaughter.
Westwood married her former fashion student, Andreas Kronthaler, in 1992.
For 30 years, Westwood lived in an ex–council flat on Nightingale Lane, Clapham. In 2000, Kronthaler convinced her to move into a Queen Anne style house in Clapham built in 1703. She was a keen gardener and a vegetarian. She identified spiritually as a Taoist.
80th birthday
To celebrate her 80th birthday, Westwood was commissioned by CIRCA, an art platform founded in 2020 by British-Irish artist Josef O’Connor, to present a new video work on the Piccadilly Lights screen in Piccadilly Circus, London. In the ten-minute film created with her brother, the punk icon performed a rewritten rendition of “Without You” from My Fair Lady to offer a stark warning of societal indifference to the looming environmental catastrophes, a call against the arms trade, and its link to climate change: “I have a plan 2 save the World. Capitalism is a war economy + war is the biggest polluter, therefore Stop War + change economy 2 fair distribution of wealth at the same time: NO MANS LAND. Let’s be clear, U + I can’t stop war just like that. But we can stop arms production + that would halt climate change cc + financial Crash. Long term this will stop war”. In an interview with The Guardian, her husband Andreas Kronthaler was quoted as saying, “It was a beautiful day because for once she let herself enjoy it.”
Death
Westwood died in Clapham, London, on 29 December 2022, aged 81.
Former Sex Pistols bass guitarist Glen Matlock paid tribute to Westwood on Twitter, stating that it was “a privilege to have rubbed shoulders with her in the mid ’70s at the birth of punk and the waves it created that still resound today for the disaffected.” Chrissie Hynde, singer and guitarist of The Pretenders, who had previously been employed as a shop assistant by Westwood and McLaren at Sex during the 1970s, tweeted: “Vivienne is gone and the world is already a less interesting place.” Others who paid tribute to Westwood on social media included singer Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran, Boy George, comedian Russell Brand, former Frankie Goes to Hollywood singer Holly Johnson, pop band Bananarama, singer and multimedia artist Yoko Ono, singer Paul McCartney, and the fashion house Alexander McQueen.
Former co-leader of the Green Party MP Caroline Lucas said of Westwood: “Such a legend, a huge inspiration, brilliantly creative and always a committed activist for people and planet – my thoughts are with her family and friends – RIP.”
In January 2023 a private funeral was held at Christ Church in Tintwistle, Derbyshire, the village where Westwood grew up, where the church was decorated with 45 metres (148 ft) of MacLeod Harris Tweed tartan, worth around £45,000. A memorial service for Westwood was held, at Southwark Cathedral in London, on 16 February 2023.
Portraits of Vivienne Westwood
The National Portrait Gallery holds 18 images of Westwood taken between 1990 and 2014, including those by Mario Testino, Jane Bown, Juergen Teller, Anne-Katrin Purkiss, and Martin Parr.
