RIP to another unlikely hero; the tale of Vivienne Westwood is one that must be shared, from her belief she’d never impact fashion, to now being widely regarded as the driving force for bringing punk into the mainstream, this is how she did it.
Vivienne was raised in a lower-middle-class family in Cheshire, England before moving to Middlesex because of WW2. From this Westwood would try art school but only made it one semester saying “I didn’t know how a working-class girl like me could possibly make a living in the art world”. Because of that, Vivienne got a job in a factory before becoming a school teacher and selling her jewelry on the side. But enough background, now to how she really changed everything.
With a new partner Malcolm McLaren, Vivienne would get the confidence to fully fledge her dreams and would begin the punk revolution of fashion we still see today saying “I was messianic about punk, seeing if one could put a spoke in the system in some way”. And that’s exactly what she did.
Together, she and Malcolm would open “SEX” a store that would build a relationship between music, fashion, and counter-culture like no other that still influenced generations of designers to follow. The store hosted artists from Mick Jagger to Keith Richards and even all four of the Beatles counted themselves as locals.
Before she knew it, Vivienne Westwood was bringing and curating the future of punk in culture, from Sid Vicious to The Entire Sex Pistols. But by 1978, the Sex Pistols had quit mid-tour and it wasn’t much after that the store closed its doors, as well as the couple, separated soon.
As with most things, after the rain, some sunshine would come as this separation would allow Vivienne to invest in her own designs and branding which is what has turned her into the icon of the Orb necklace most people know her for now.
But before that, Vivienne did what was seen as impossible. Not only as a counterculture figure but an unwealthy woman who by all means didn’t have a way paved. She turned it into the empire of influence we see today. An inspiration to say the least.
RIP Vivienne Westwood you will not be easily forgotten.
