Vivienne Westwood is one of the greatest British fashion designers in history, and she played a pivotal role in forging a place for the punk movement within fashion. She is a trailblazer in fashion, creating styles that shaped fashion trends for years. While she has established herself in the mainstream, Westwood has worked to push boundaries and question establishment since her start as a self-taught designer. Here is why Vivienne Westwood is one of the greatest designers to come onto the scene, and why her iconic Saturn orb will continue to remain a symbol of groundbreaking fashion for years.
Vivienne Westwood was born on April 8, 1941, in Derbyshire, England. Originally a teacher, she married Derrick Westwood in 1962, divorcing him three years later. In 1965, she met Malcolm McLaren, the manager of the iconic punk band The Sex Pistols, and moved in with him. From there, they established Sex, a boutique where the pair collaborated to design fetish-wear to sell to sex workers and the punk scene. The designs that came out of Sex pushed the boundaries, featuring ripped cloth, leather pieces, spikes, and vulgar graphics. The shop enraged the British conservatives, thus establishing Westwood as a pioneer in translating the rebellious punk subculture into fashion. Many of the pieces the duo designed were worn by members of the Sex Pistols.
Gradually removing herself from a toxic personal and professional relationship with McLaren, Vivienne Westwood began to expand her craft on her own. With the disbandment of the Sex Pistols and the gradual fading of the punk movement, Vivienne would not give up pushing the boundaries of fashion and culture. She was constantly ahead of the curve, designing new silhouettes and dipping into a more frilly style that still included the culture subversion that she was known for, popularizing a brand new style called “New Romantic.”
Many of her collections were inspired by periods in history, emphasizing the role that past cultures and movements have on fashion. She has drawn influence from 17th and 18th-century portraits, indigenous cultures, the French Rococo era, and many other sources. She experimented with many styles, some more deconstructed and others more form-fitting. A shift in her work occurred in 1985, with the Mini-Crini collection, which included a reworking of historical dresses. She created a modern, bell-shaped skirt, and popularized the style of corsets worn as outerwear. In the 90s, she shocked the fashion scene again with her Cut, Slash, and Pull collection, with pieces inspired by the English Tudor era, including slashed clothes revealing the bare skin of models. These are just a few examples of Westwood’s collections that changed the game of fashion. She refused to conform to the, as she described it, new “ugly casualness” of contemporary fashion, focusing on the elegance of the past and translating it into her unconventional designs.
Vivienne Westwood’s rebellious attitude translated not only into her designs, but into her social involvement as well. She has spoken out against social issues such as climate change, civil rights, and nuclear disarmament. Many of her collections feature social commentary within the pieces, incorporating her beliefs into her work.
Vivienne Westwood can be described as a Pro-C. Her designs have shaped the fashion industry for decades, and she continues to make waves with her collections even today. Westwood has received many awards for her role in shaping fashion and was given the title Dame in 2006. In 2004, an exhibit was dedicated to her work in the Victoria and Albert Museum, the largest exhibition dedicated to a British designer in history. Vivienne Westwood has changed the name of fashion as it exists today, pushing herself into the mainstream without sacrificing her unconventional style. Her iconic designs will continue to influence other fashion designers for years to come.
Some of my favorite pieces:
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Most-Excellent-Order-of-the-British-Empire
https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/vivienne-westwood-punk-new-romantic-and-beyond
https://www.biography.com/fashion-designer/vivienne-westwood
Maria,
ReplyDeleteI love how you reference Westwood's social beliefs and activism in relation to her creativity! Creatives are extremely influenced by their environment, and I'm sure that Westwood would have been a much different designer, or maybe not a designer at all, had she not lived and worked during the punk era. I'm interested to know more about how her personal relationships influenced her art. It must have been difficult to handle the loss of two relationships, and this could have had an impact on her designs, just for a short period or maybe even longer.
I absolutely love Vivienne Westwood fashion, especially some of her looks that Dua Lipa and FKA Twigs have worn recently. I had no idea that she worked with the Sex Pistols and that she started out designing fashion for sex workers. It's so amazing that Westwood was able to push the boundaries of fashion and help evolve the punk movement in the 1960's. This post was so interesting, and I loved to see someone outside of fashion Twitter appreciating her!
ReplyDeleteI love this post! Truth be told, I didn't know much about Vivienne Westwood other than her being a designer, so this post was so informative, especially from a creative perspective. It's so compelling to see her origins as creating clothes for sex workers and going against the grain in terms of what was expected for fashion at the time. I also thought it was really interesting that she popularized corsets as outerwear, and now corsets are trending again today!
ReplyDeleteAs someone who knows next to nothing about fashion and, especially, fashion designers, it was wonderful to read about Vivienne Westwood's personal story and industry impact. I had no idea she had so much influence on the fashion of the punk era and found that bit about the Sex Pistols to be super interesting! I am fascinated by her work now and will definitely be looking into more of her styles. Great Article!
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