The Iconic Legacy Of Vivienne Westwood

Formerly known as the Godmother of Punk: Dame Vivienne Westwood is now marked as one of the most innovative and iconic designers in history. Known for her political and socially provocative fashion statements. She is to be thanked for establishing in pop culture the bongage trousars, brilliantly assortmenting of safety pins in order to solidify punk rock in the world of luxury fashion.  

 Her career began by selling her designs at the now infamous, Kings Road boutique shop: Sex. Her husband at the time Malcom Mclearn, by the use of their shop, led to the discovery of iconic rock band The Sex Pistols. All to think that her legacy almost never happened.

Vivienne Westwood was born in 1941 to very humbled beginnings. After dropping out of University, after only attending for a whole of one semester. She went on as a primary school teacher, in order to keep her dreams of being in fashion alive she would craft jewelry on the weekends. On paper she had a more than ideal life. However, that did last long at all. She recognized early on that her potential in fashion was being wasted. Not that long after, Westwood was introduced to London based  art student Malcolm Mclaren. To Westwood, Mclearn was everything that Westwood had wanted to be herself.  He was a true free spirit. Proving to be a catalyst for Westwood's career. 

After her mosh-pit inspired designs brought the greater part of England to her boutique: Sex. She made her mark by becoming a regular for London Fashion Week. There, the presentation of her collection was praised by many as depicting that it was extraordinarily different from what most designers were showcasing in the early 80’s. 1981, with her collection entitled “Pirates” placed Westwoods name on the map. She then went on and introduced her other lines including: Buffalo Gals, Savage, The Pagan Years, and The New Romantics. 

The world of fashion will never forget the endowment that Vivienne Westwood was driven to make. She single handedly changed the status quo of the once taboo aesthetic of grunge rock and guaranteed a  permanent home for punk in the world of high fashion.