Vivienne Westwood, who died on Thursday at the age of 81, was known for dressing the Sex Pistols in the 1970s, making her a household name in British fashion. Her rebelliousness remained a trademark of an unapologetically political designer.
‘Vivienne Westwood passed away quietly today in Clapham, South London, with her family by her side. To bring about a positive change, the world needs individuals like Vivienne,’ according to a tweet from her fashion label.
The causes of her protest T-shirts or posters on the runway included climate change, pollution and her support of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
She dressed up as then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher for a magazine cover in 1989 and drove a white tank near the country home of a later British leader, David Cameron, to protest against fracking.
The rebel was inducted into Britain’s establishment in 1992 by Queen Elizabeth who awarded her the Order of the British Empire medal. But, ever keen to shock, Westwood turned up at Buckingham Palace without underwear – a fact she proved to photographers by a revealing twirl of her skirt.
‘The only reason I am in fashion is to destroy the word ‘conformity’,’ Westwood said in her 2014 biography. ‘Nothing is interesting to me unless it’s got that element.’
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