Vivienne Westwood

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430 Kings Road 1971 – 1980

The hippie movement was the most popular fashion in late 1960s London, but it didn’t inspire young Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren. They were much more intrigued by acts of rebellion and typical 1950s clothing, music, and memorabilia.

Vivienne began by designing and making Teddy Boy clothes for Malcolm and in 1971 they opened a small boutique called Let it Rock at number 430 Kings Road, Chelsea in London. A year later, Vivienne’s interests had turned to biker clothing, zips, and leather. The shop re-branded with a skull and crossbones and was renamed Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die.

Vivienne and Malcolm began to design their own t-shirts with provocative printed slogans, which led to their prosecution under the 1959 Obscene Publications Act; they responded by re-branding the shop once again and producing even more t-shirts featuring hard-core images. By 1974 the shop was renamed Sex, a shop “unlike anything else going on in England at the time” they used the slogan ‘rubberwear for the office’.

Two years later, popular band the Sex Pistols’ (managed by Malcolm) song ‘God Save the Queen’ went to number one in the charts but was refused airtime by the BBC. The shop reopened as Seditionaries, transforming the straps and zips of obscure sexual fetishism and bondage into fashion, and inspiring a D.I.Y. aesthetic. The mass media labelled this as ‘Punk Rock’.

The collapse of the Sex Pistols and the adoption of punk by the mainstream left Vivienne disenchanted. In 1980 the shop was refitted and renamed Worlds End, which is still the name that’s in use today. The shop’s basement was formerly a restaurant, but Worlds End eventually absorbed it to expand the stockroom and staff facilities. Officially the shop hasn’t changed aesthetically since opening its doors. The original interior was restored in 2017, but all details remain as they were designed by Vivienne and Malcolm 40 years ago.

Vivienne used her creations to communicate ideas – often using graphics to confront issues of political and social injustice. The swastika symbol seen on the 1977 Anarchy Shirt, designed by Westwood & McLaren, was laid over an inverted image of Christ on the crucifix and Queen Elizabeth II on a British stamp, with the word 'DESTROY' emblazoned above the image. The graphics were meant as a provocative act of denouncing corruption and dictatorship. More broadly, it was meant as a means to challenge the older generation, of saying “We don’t accept your values or your taboos - you’re all fascists.”

The Early Years 1981 – 1987

In 1984 the Nostalgia of Mud shop (now known as Worlds End) closes in West London and Vivienne relocates to Italy. Vivienne receives an invitation to show her Spring-Summer 1984 ‘Hypnos’ collection in Tokyo at Hanae Mori’s ‘Best of Five’ global fashion awards, with Calvin Klein, Claude Montana, and Gianfranco Ferre.

Vivienne Westwood opens another London boutique on Davies Street in 1988. In 1986 the orb logo was first used to symbolize taking tradition into the future.

Carlo D’Amario was appointed Managing Director of Vivienne Westwood Ltd in 1986. The 1981 ‘Pirate’ Collection was Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s first official collaborative catwalk show. It informed the aesthetic of The Worlds End Boutique with its pirate’s galleon and ship features. This collection was filled with romantic looks in gold, orange, and yellow which burst onto the London fashion scene, ensuring its place in the house’s history of influence.

"We’ve only stopped to note significant innovations, otherwise, the ideas carry through and develop throughout the collections." "Pirate", Autumn-Winter 1981/82 was their first catwalk show. Looking at plundering history and the Third World. The research was into historical dress, keeping the original cuts as fashion. Inspired by Native American patterns, the ‘Pirate’ trousers had a baggy bum, in complete contrast to hippy hipsters and ‘tight arses’ of the time.

At this pivotal point in her career, Vivienne reimagined techniques based on traditional rectangular cuts. She had an idea she knew would work, knocked it up in rough and on a small scale, and tried it out on a little dummy. Through various adjustments and fittings, she arrived at a full-scale finished garment in the right fabric. Clothes always have a dynamic with the body. She continues to mix this in with historical cuts.

The Pagan Years 1987 – 1992

The late 1980s saw a clear and significant shift in style: from punk rock to a parody of high society, a phase Westwood called "the Pagan Years." In this period her work blended elements of ancient Greek aesthetics with the refined structure of classic British tailoring.

The Autumn–Winter 1987 “Harris Tweed” collection is considered one of her most important and influential works, and Westwood explained its concept as follows: "My whole idea for this collection was stolen from a little girl I saw on the tube one day. She couldn’t have been more than 14. She had a little plaited bun, a Harris Tweed jacket, and a bag with a pair of ballet shoes in it. She looked so cool and composed standing there".

In 1990 and 1991, Vivienne received an award for Fashion Designer of the Year from the British Fashion Council. In 1992, Westwood was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) in recognition of her contribution to fashion. It is well known that, during the ceremony at Buckingham Palace, she showed up wearing no underwear.

Anglomania 1993 – 1999

In the 1990s, he shifted her style again, combining historical English and French references while experimenting with modern proportions and impeccably tailored pieces. In 1993, Westwood married for a second time to her assistant Andreas Kronthaler, 25 years her junior, who became her partner in life and work.

The Anglomania show, created together by the pair, is arguably one of the most memorable of that period. Naomi Campbell famously fell on the runway due to the very high heels she was wearing—a moment that has since become emblematic of the show. The brand’s stores began expanding internationally when Vivienne Westwood licensed boutique opened in Tokyo, Japan – a first outside of the UK -, as well as in New York in 1999, among others.

Activism and Androgyny 2000 - Today

Since the 2000s, Vivienne Westwood has begun using her collections and runway shows as a means of political expression, especially to raise awareness about the environment and the importance of protecting the planet. "Climate change, not fashion, is now my priority," she stated in an interview with the Guardian in 2014.

Each of his creations and each show conveyed a social and political message: from the slogans printed on his clothes, which recalled his punk roots, to the demonstrations on the catwalk against Brexit, climate change and in favour of freedom of expression.

The Fall/Winter 2015-2016 collection, titled Unisex, was undoubtedly among the first to bring androgynous clothing into the mainstream, paving the way – once again – for a new phase of progressive and inclusive fashion.

2016 marked the beginning of a dynamic new chapter for the house. That year, Vivienne and her longtime husband, Andreas Kronthaler, started producing distinct bi-annual collections. Andreas presented his first official line at Paris Fashion Week in 2016, under the label "Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood", which replaced the former "Vivienne Westwood Gold Label".

After Vivienne’s passing on December 29, 2022, Andreas expressed: "I 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".

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