BRITISH fashion icon and activist Dame Vivienne Westwood has died at the age of 81, her representatives have confirmed to Politicalite.
The pioneering punk designer made a name for herself on the fashion scene in the 1970s with her designs, slogan t-shirts and irreverent attitude towards the establishment.
Dame Vivienne died on Friday “peacefully, and surrounded by her family in Clapham, south London”.
In a statement, her husband and creative partner Andreas Kronthaler said: “I will continue with Vivienne in my heart.
“We have been working until the end and she has given me plenty of things to get on with. Thank you darling.”
A cause of death was not disclosed.
Vivienne has been hailed for bringing punk and new wave fashion into the mainstream and shot to fame after she made clothes for the Sex Pistols’ manager Malcolm McLaren’s famous fashion boutique on the King’s Road, London, known as ‘SEX’.
She was also obsessed with shaking up established systems, and famously said she wanted to see if she could put a “spoke in the system”.
TRIBUTES POUR IN
Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan paid tribute to Dame Vivienne Westwood, writing on Twitter: “A sad day, Vivienne Westwood was and will remain a towering figure in British fashion.
“Her punk style rewrote the rule book in the 1970s and was widely admired for how she stayed true to her own values throughout her life.” reported The Mirror.
Virgin Atlantic added: “Rest in peace Dame Vivienne Westwood. A true British icon and the visionary behind our iconic uniform design that we’ve been proudly wearing since 2014.”
The designer is also survived by two children – Ben, born 1963, who she shared with erotica photographer Derek Westwood, and Joseph Corré, born 1967, who she had with Malcolm McLaren.
More follows.
