British fashion designer known as the Queen of Punk, winning the British Fashion Designer of the Year award in 1990, 1991 and 2006, and being made a DBE in 1992. She was largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream. Her work went on permanent display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.
Famed for her unorthodox and startling approach, Westwood showed up at a show at Kensington Palace in a see-through dress, shoes and jewelry – period – at age 51. Often mocked in public, she was derided by the media and her success was on her own terms with no compromise. She attributed her unflappable confidence to her upbringing, stating that her parents totally loved each other and adored their children. They were working class people but upwardly mobile. Vivienne wanted to be a painter and studied at art school, but left for a factory job. She continued school to get her teaching credentials and taught for a year before marrying Derek Westwood. They had son Ben in 1963 but the marriage went by the wayside. Vivienne lived with her mother while teaching and on the side, making jewelry which she sold in Portobello market.
She became involved with Malcolm McLaren and their son Joseph was born in 1969. Joseph became her business manager. She continued teaching until she and Malcolm opened their first shop, “Let it Rock.” It gained a small cult following and with the advent of punk, Vivienne came into her own. Malcolm became the manager and creator of the Sex Pistols, and Westwood began to turn out the punk creations that were the mark of the ’70s and ’80s.
Dame Vivienne Westwood later married her former fashion student, Austrian-born Andreas Kronthaler. For 30 years Westwood lived in the council flat in Clapham until, in 2000, Kronthaler convinced Westwood to move into a Queen Anne style house built in 1703, which once belonged to the mother of Captain Cook. Westwood did not watch television or read newspapers or magazines. However she was a keen gardener.
Westwood died on 29 December 2022 in Clapham, South London at the age of 81, surrounded by family.
Link to Wikipedia biography