Dame Vivienne Westwood is best known as the Queen Mother of Punk Style in her native England. Always controversial and bold, Westwood has dressed the most popular musicians and celebrities in the most unconventional garb.
Beginnings:
Born Vivienne Isabel Swire during World War II on April 8 1941, she was raised in the quaint village of Tintwistle in Derbyshire. In her late teens she moved to London to attend the Harrow School of Art, but dropped out within a year. She pursued a degree at a teachers training college and became a primary school teacher. The University of Westminster and Middlesex University are happy to name her as one of their alumni.
In 1962 she wed Derek Westwood and the following year gave birth to her first son, Benjamin. She hand made her own wedding dress for the occasion. She was mostly self taught as a seamstress, working backwards disassembling garments; ‘Even though it was the 70s, we found old stocks of clothes that had never been worn from the 50s and took them apart. I started to teach myself how to make clothes from that kind of formula.’ Her marriage ended in 1965 when she was introduced to Malcolm McLaren. McLaren encouraged Westwood to make clothes for his shop at 430 King’s Road, first known as ‘Let It Rock’ but was transformed to simply ‘Sex’ as well as ‘Too Fast to Live to Young to Die’ and as it is best known as ‘Seditionaries’.
Punk Explosion:
Westwood was greatly inspired by the Biker culture, Sado Masochistic Culture and the street walkers of London. She became absorbed in Punk Culture, born on the streets of London. She dressed the most lewd and popular stars of this movement at the time, such as Johnny Rotten who was the most notable celebrity to wear a Seditionaries tee shirt. It didn’t hurt that McLaren was the bands’ manager at the time either. It is commonly accepted that Westwood invented the asymmetrical hair cut popularized by the Punk movement, proclaiming ‘I was the first person to have a punk rock hairstyle.’ It was during this time that Westwood gave birth to her youngest son Joseph Corré.
Runway:
Westwood’s runway shows have always had a theme featuring the vagabond style of outsiders. During the Fall/ Spring shows of 1982-83 and Fall/ Winter 1984-85 she was greatly inspired by the American West, specifically naming these collections ‘Buffalo Girls’ and ‘Clint Eastwood’ respectively.
Especially during this time in fashion, many women were earning their masters and bachelors degrees. New to the workforce they were dressing like men in droves. Westwood responded to this in a very avant garde fashion, never deviating from what set her apart. Some thought her clothes to be sexist and demeaning to women, but as she put it ‘Feminists wish women to seem like men. They're not men.’ American designer Donna Karen is known for her contemporary work wear but Westwood responded ‘I think some people would love to be able to make the clothes I make - and of course, I do influence them, but they keep simplifying, and minimalism doesn't quite work.’
Westwood still owns the shop on King’s Road, now known as ‘World’s End’ though she only produced one line in the store’s name in 1982. It is now exclusively stocked with her brand under her own name. She sells the Vivienne Westwood brand at shops solely owned by her in the country of her birth as well as three showrooms in places of importance in the fashion industry; Milan, Paris and LA. The whole of Westwoods’ theme in her clothes is to produce garments for the people from high quality materials, ‘In Italy they take cheap cloth and make it look expensive, but I take expensive cloth and make it look cheap. They just don't understand.’ The designer made this statement after losing a contract with Armani.
Westwood has pioneered modern celebrity/ rock and roll style. Safety pins as button closures, razor blades as pendants on ball chains. toilet chains as garment ornamentation, these themes have carried over from Punk Sub-culture and S & M Bondage culture to modern mainstream style. Dog collars, spiked jacket shoulders and the ‘Pirate’ style have been popularized solely by Vivienne Westwood during her first runway show, a collaboration with McLaren, in 1981. Her intense color scheme was a statement against the elite in their black couture duds, ‘We wanted to step off our island and add the color of the third world. We got gold cigarette paper and stuck it around our teeth. We really did look like pirates and dressed to look the part.’ One of Westwoods’ more avant garde pieces was her nine inch heels, which toppled famed model Naomi Campbell in a 1994 show in Paris.
There have been conflicts with anti-consumerism values of the Punk movement with the brand’s price points. Like many designers, Westwood proclaims that her clothes are a sound investment, being both versatile and long lasting fashion staples. Westwood also realized the value of offering a variety of price points for her products, namely her fragrance collection. Now it is common for a designer to have a fragrance but decades ago only the high priced couture lines offer fragrances. ‘But, having a perfume and license, in general, is a financial necessity. A designer must, to reap back the money spent on prototypes and all that sort of thing.’
The most publicized piece so far in her career has been the wedding dress featured almost an a character in the 2008 film version of the HBO series ‘Sex in the City’. The dress served as an icon for the film and is (for the most part) the most memorable part of the film. Westwood was a great fit for the film since she influenced many of the designers featured on the hit HBO series, House of Field by Patricia Field and Gianni Versace just to name a few. Westwood publicly renounced the film’s over all costume design as ‘frumpy’ and has openly criticized Patricia Field. Despite her displeasure of the first film, the popularity of it had pressed her into talks of her involvement in the second film.
The latest collection from Westwood has spinned an edgy punk style on preppy basics, though she will be forever remembered for her defiant style during the height of the Punk Rock Era.
Find Part 2 of this article here.
Sources:
Bell-Price, Shannon (October 2004). "Vivienne Westwood (born 1941) and the Postmodern Legacy of Punk Style Source: Metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2011-9-6
enjoy-your-style.com Vivienne Westwood Quotes Retrieved 2011-9-6
Horyn, Cathy (2009-12-31). "The Queen V". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-9-6.
McDermott, Catherine Vivienne Westwood Carlton 1999
Mulvagh, Jane Vivienne Westwood: an unfashionable life HarperCollins 1998
"New Conservative Vivienne Westwood has something to get off her chest". Vogue.co.uk. 2007-11-29. Retrieved 2011-9-6
"Tatler, April 1989". Magazine Week. Retrieved 2011-9-6
Vermorel, Fred Vivienne Westwood Overlook Press 1996
Wilcox, Claire Vivienne Westwood R. Young 2008
