In 2022, we lost one of our time's most iconic, influential, and ground-breaking designers – Dame Vivienne Westwood. Here is a timeline of the highlights of her career and most memorable moments.
1970s
Alongside Malcolm McLaren, future manager of the punk band Sex Pistols, Vivienne Westwood opened a boutique in Chelsea, London called Let It Rock. After several rebrands, it eventually became known as the iconic SEX shop; Westwood and McLaren’s collaborative designs soon grew in popularity and were even used in the theatrical production of the Rocky Horror Show. Among their most popular items were ripped t-shirts with hand-written provocative slogans scattered with safety pins, leather jackets, and deconstructed kilts. These themes are still common in both runway and high-street fashion today.
1980s
After Punk, Westwood and McLaren paved the way for yet another iconic fashion movement – their new romantic era. This was an era full of historical influences – from the lavish corsets of the upper class to highwaymen-inspired looks. In 1981 came the jaw-dropping Pirates collection, just months after Adam Ant hired McLaren for a rebranding. This was Westwood and McLaren’s first official collaborative catwalk show and bursting with new-romantic looks in gold, orange and yellow, making their first show one that would be remembered for decades to come.
1990s
Perhaps th
e biggest decade of Vivienne Westwood’s career – she received great recognition for her work, including the Womenswear Designer of the Year award from the British Fashion Council in 1990 and 1991, and one of Westwood’s most memorable moments – receiving the OBE in 1992, famously spinning for the cameras at Buckingham Palace wearing no underwear! The 90s was a decade full of memorable runway moments: from Naomi Campbell falling in nine-inch heels in Westwood’s autumn/winter 1993 show to Kate Moss walking the runway topless, in full Marie Antoinette glam, eating an ice cream for the Erotic Zones spring/summer 1995 shows.
2000s
By now, Vivienne Westwood had created an immensely successful global brand, complete with separate lines for high-end fashion (Gold), mainline (Red) and diffusion (Anglomania). In 2004, the V&A put on the first-ever complete retrospective of Vivienne Westwood’s work, with pieces ranging all the way from her early punk days to the (then) present day. In 2006 another impressive personal achievement came when Westwood officially became Dame Vivienne Westwood, having received the DBE for services to British fashion. Another iconic moment came in 2008 when Carrie Bradshaw, one of the greatest fictional fash
ionistas, wore a Vivienne Westwood gown for her marriage to Mr Big in the Sex & The City spin-off film.
2010s
This was the decade that Westwood became increasingly involved in environmental and political activism; she had a strong voice when it came to speaking out against climate change and the detrimental impact of fast fashion on the environment. Fashion shows doubled as protests, and slogans like ‘Buy Less’ and ‘Buy
Local’ were displayed on garments going down the catwalk. Dame Vivienne’s message of buying less clothing and wearing it for longer has spread across mainstream fashion – now, even some fast fashion brands offer rental services.
No matter the decade, one thing is clear; Dame Vivienne Westwood, an icon of British fashion, has certainly left a mark on the fashion world for the better.
Edited by Madelynne Flack