British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, known as the "godmother of punk ", passed away peacefully at home on the 29th, shocking the fashion world. She recounted her 81-year life, from bringing "punk culture" (Punk) to the catwalk, to making the catwalk a voice channel for environmental issues such as politics and global warming. Rebellion and exception became her signature mark.
Vivienne Westwood was born in Cheshire, England on April 8, 1941. When she was 17 years old, her family moved to London, allowing her to enter Harrow School of Art (Harrow) to study jewelry design and production. Although she did not graduate, it also started her interest in fashion. Later, she studied teaching and entered a primary school as a teacher. However, she did not interrupt her design career and continued to design jewelry and sell it at vendors.
In 1962, Vivienne Westwood married her first husband Derek Westwood, and Westwood was her husband's surname. At that time, she got married wearing a wedding dress designed by herself, showing her design talent, and gave birth to her eldest son in 1963. However, after that, Vivienne Westwood met Malcolm McLaren. In order to pursue love, she filed for divorce in the conservative folk customs of the time, and chose to stay with Malcolm McLaren, which was criticized.
2 also opened a store in 1971, selling clothing and accessories designed by Vivienne Westwood. In addition, Malcolm McLaren later became the manager of the legendary punk band "Sex Pistols", and the clothing designed by Vivienne Westwood naturally became their performance clothes on stage, officially starting her unconventional punk fashion journey.
Vivienne Westwood officially released her first fashion series "Pirate Series" in 1981. She incorporated strapping, sadistic and other elements of punk culture into this series of pirate boots, which became a classic design of the brand. Later, she and Malcolm McLaren parted ways and developed their own. However, the straps, pin buckles and blades in the punk culture were combined with British-style plaid fabrics, Union Jack printed fabrics, etc., plus functional designs, making it a representative of punk fashion.
When she was looking for design inspiration for a new series in 1985, she saw photos of the universe and stars in an astronomy book given to her by her mother, so she added Saturn with a crown and jewelry, giving birth to the brand's signature logo. In addition, she was also keen on using sustainable development materials to design clothes. It is not difficult to see why she later turned the runway into a channel for her to appeal for environmental issues such as global warming.
Vivienne Westwood’s design style started in 1981 and has gone through styles such as New Romanticism and Paganism. In 1992, Vivienne Westwood met her current husband Andreas Kronthaler and took charge of the brand design simultaneously. Now, Vivienne Westwood has passed away, announcing her 81 years of deviant life, but the punk fashion culture spirit she set off will continue to exist.
