Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood (; 8 April 1941 – 29 December 2022) was an English fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream. In 2022, Sky Arts ranked her the 4th most influential artist in Britain of the last 50 years.
Westwood came to public notice when she made clothes for the boutique that she and Malcolm McLaren ran on King's Road, which became known as SEX. Their ability to synthesize clothing and music shaped the 1970s UK punk scene, which included McLaren's band, the Sex Pistols. She viewed punk as a way of "seeing if one could put a spoke in the system".
Westwood opened four shops in London and eventually expanded throughout Britain and the world, selling a varied range of merchandise, some of which promoted her political causes such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, climate change and civil rights groups.
Life and career
Early years
Westwood was born in the village of Tintwistle, Cheshire, on 8 April 1941. She was the daughter of Gordon Swire and Dora Swire (née Ball), who had married two years previously, two weeks after the outbreak of the Second World War. At the time of Vivienne's birth, her father was employed as a storekeeper in an aircraft factory; he had previously worked as a greengrocer.
In 1958, her family moved to Harrow, Greater London. Westwood took a jewelry and silversmith course at the University of Westminster, then known as the Harrow Art School, but left after one term, saying: "I didn't know how a working-class girl like me could possibly make a living in the art world". After taking a job in a factory and studying at a teacher-training college, she became a primary-school teacher. During this period, she created her own jewelry, which she sold at a stall on Portobello Road.
In 1962, she met Derek Westwood, a Hoover factory apprentice, in Harrow. They married on 21 July 1962; Westwood made her own wedding dress. In 1963, she gave birth to a son, Benjamin.
Malcolm McLaren
Westwood's marriage to Derek ended after she met Malcolm McLaren. Westwood and McLaren moved to Thurleigh Court in Balham, where their son Joseph Corré was born in 1967. Westwood continued to teach until 1971 and also created clothes which McLaren designed. McLaren became manager of the punk band the Sex Pistols, and subsequently the two garnered attention as the band wore Westwood's and McLaren's designs.
Punk era
Westwood was one of the architects of the punk fashion phenomenon of the 1970s, saying "I was messianic about punk, seeing if one could put a spoke in the system in some way". Westwood’s emergence as a designer who made garments that reflected the economic, social, and political contexts of 1970s Britain coincided with a disillusioned youth, who developed a unique style of dress and musical expression which was instantly identifiable through its aesthetic and sound.
Westwood’s boutique, originally managed with McLaren, was a meeting place for early members of the London punk scene. The boutique regularly changed names and interior design through the 1970s to fit with collections and design inspirations. It remains in its original location at 430 Kings Road, Chelsea, London (under the name Worlds End since 1979, following a short period of closure in the 1980s) to this day.
McLaren and Westwood were keen entrepreneurs, and their designs sold in their boutique - named Let It Rock, Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die, SEX, and subsequently Seditionares - helped to define and market the punk look at the exact moment that it exploded in popularity on the streets of London. Westwood’s designs during the Punk Era and thereafter were informed by historicism; the V&A describing Westwood as “a meticulous researcher”. Westwood began challenging gender norms and promoting experimentation in her designs, which at the outset were created in collaboration with McLaren.
Initially, Westwood created garments refencing the dress of the 1950s Teddy Boys, which were worn by McLaren. Upon opening Let It Rock in 1971, the first incarnation of Westwood and McLaren’s boutique, early creations for the shop incorporated such influences reminiscent of the youth subculture fashions of the 1950s. Inspired by the rebellious nature of the 1950s youth, Let It Rock referenced the clothing, music, and décor of the immediate postwar era.