Fashion Focus

FASHION Vivienne Westwood

A huge name in the fashion industry with large scale production, Vivienne Westwood has upheld the title of the First Climate Change Luxury Brand. Westwood has been designing since 1970 originating as a punk style fashion brand bringing modern punk into the fashion mainstream.

Although you may know the iconic orb logo and symbol, how much do you really know behind the influential figure behind it? The split of her former partner has enabled her to forge a label that is truly her own with motifs of provocation and tradition. The significance of the label Vivienne Westwood is that it is one of the few independent global fashion houses to remain. Despite being nearly 80 years old, she still runs her own company.

Sustainability

She has partnered with not-for-profit organisation Canopy in an initiative to combat deforestation. She has not been shy to show that she is a passionate activist demonstrating this in many of her shows. The ‘Ecotricity’ fashion show raised awareness about renewable energies and showed encouragement for other luxury brands to transfer their reliance on fossil fuels to green energy. Unlike many other luxury labels, V ivienne W estwood has not used real fur since 2007.

‘Buy less, choose well, make it last!’ –Vivienne Westwood

Achievements

 1992 -

‘The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire’ awarded by Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace

 2007 -

‘Outstanding Achievement in Fashion Design’ at the British Fashion Awards.

 2010 -

‘Prince Philip Designers Prize’  Vivienne Westwood: 34 Years in Fashion – largest exhibition the Victoria and Albert Museum has ever dedicated to a British designer.  In 2011, she designed for multiple royal wedding attendees: Princess Eugenie of York and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.

Background

From a background of school teaching, she became a self -taught designer and, together with who would be her future husband, pursued a career in fashion originating from selling vintage second-hand clothing. She gained recognition through the Sex Pistols who wore her early designs, gaining much mainstream attention.

Influence

The brand is unique in that it seeks to do much more than produce clothing. Instead of exploiting the power of their platform, it uses the brand voice to magnify the consequences of overconsumption and climate change. Westwood merges fashion with activism and politics. Fashion brands that relay caution about sustainability on their websites and shows, potentially owe a debt to Westwood. Although she was not to the first to fight for the rights of the planet, she certainly used her design popularity to persuade the public to acknowledge the desperate need for change. Further to Westwood’s legacy, she also leaves behind the postmodern legacy of punk style, preventing it from sinking below the surface of fashion.