Figure: Vivienne Westwood’s fashion store in London displayed her photos and eulogy on the 30th. Reuters
[Ta Kung Pao News]According to the Associated Press: On the 29th, Vivienne Westwood, a well-known British fashion designer known as the “Godmother of Punk” and “Queen of the West”, passed away in London at the age of 81. Since designing clothes for the Sex Pistols in the 1970s, Vivienne Westwood’s groundbreaking style has defined what is punk fashion and has taken it globally, including in Hong Kong.
Vivienne Westwood’s fashion studio said in a statement that she was surrounded by her family when she passed away. Her second husband and creative partner, Andreas Kronthaler, said they worked together until the last minute.
Vivienne Westwood was born in a blue-collar family and worked as a primary school teacher. In the early 1970s, she opened her first fashion boutique on King’s Road, West London, with Malcolm McLaren, who later became the manager of the Sex Pistols. A few years later, the Sex Pistols shot to fame wearing the duo’s designs, bringing punk elements of bondage ties, pins, latex and checks into the fashion mainstream. In the millennium, Vivienne Westwood’s classic plaid wallets and Saturn pattern handbags can be seen everywhere on the streets of Hong Kong.
In 1992, she was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the British Royal Family. On that day, she boldly went into battle without wearing underwear “vacuum” and received the award in front of the Queen. In 2001, she was elected Royal Designer for Industry, and in 2006 she was made a Dame.
Vivienne Westwood often uses fashion design to express political views. In 2013, she called attention to climate change at a fashion show; in 2018, her models waved EU flags to show their opposition to Brexit. In March of this year, Assange, the founder of “WikiLeaks”, married his fiancée Morris in a London prison. The dresses and wedding dresses of the two were designed by Vivienne Westwood.