British Fashion Icon Vivienne Westwood Dies, Aged 81

One of Britain’s biggest names in fashion, Vivienne Westwood, has died aged 81.

The news was confirmed by her fashion house on Twitter, which said the world needed “people like Vivienne to make a change for the better”.

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The 81-year-old’s husband and creative partner, Andreas Kronthaler, said he “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.”

Westwood will be remembered for her unapologetically challenging the status quo, using fashion and her platform to advocate for climate change, pollution and to show her support for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. 

Other notable moments of her lifetime include dressing up as then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher or 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.

Most shocking for some was when Westwood rocked up to Buckingham Palace with no underwear on – proved when she twirled her skirt to photographers revealing her bare bottom half. 

Westwood’s fashion reflected her personally perfectly, a punk-style collection including coresets, Harris Tweed suits, taffeta ball gowns and lately, fitted silhouettes and puffed skirts. 

"My clothes have a story. They have an identity. They have character and a purpose," Westwood once said.

"That's why they become classics. Because they keep on telling a story. They are still telling it."

She later wrote in her biography in 2014 that, "the only reason I am in fashion is to destroy the word 'conformity'.”

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