Vivienne Westwood, Andreas Kronthaler and Lily Cole attend the CostumeInstitute Gala for the PUNK: Chaos to Couture exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 6, 2013.Larry Busacca/GettyImages Later, Andreas calls from the doorway, “I’m going downstairs, Vivienne.” “You have to wait for me a minute,” she bats back, with a cheeky smile. She’s mid spiel, relaying with unstoppable passion Manning’s plight, her sea colored eyes afire under the red waves she’s drawn over them. Her gaze pierces with a desperate appeal to truth. She’s been calling truths out to us all for decades. WhichIs why, this April 2013 day, Vivienne has traveled to New York, accepting Vogue’sInvitation to attend the punk themed Met Gala despite the paradoxesImplied. She and Andreas are here to bring messages to the widest possible audience. “We’re out for the cause!” Andreas urges me, playfully enacting howI'might talk to the cameras about the rainforest.Hours later, we’re on the red carpet for the Met Gala. Passing a swarm of lenses, Vivienne pivots everyInterviewer’s question to her accessory: “I’ve got some brilliant jewelry here,” she says to CNN, pointing to the soldier’s photo now pinned to her long pink silk coat. “I’m here to support Manning. That’s the mostImportant thingI want to say.”It’s the only thing she says. Click here to buy this shirt: Official Dream Theater Revolver Winter 2024 Shirt
Fashion was always a vehicle for expression for Vivienne, who diedIn December 2022, age 81. What beganIn the 1970s with spiked hair, “rubberwear for the office,” and T shirt slogans so provocative that she and her partner, Malcolm McLaren, were prosecuted under the 1959 Obscene