Designer Vivienne Westwood, dubbed the ‘punk queen of fashion’, dies at 81

Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood has died at the age of 81.

In a statement on Twitter, her fashion house said she died “peacefully and surrounded” by her family in Clapham, south London.

Westwood made a name for itself with its punk styles Y new wave in the 1970s and went on to dress some of the biggest names in fashion.

Vivienne Westwood, the punk queen who wants to change the world through her clothes or her actions

Her creative partner and husband since 1992, Andreas Kronthaler, said: “I will continue to hold Vivienne in my heart. We have been working to the end and she has given me many things to keep going.”

Westwood rose to fame on the fashion scene in the 1970s with his androgynous designs, slogan T-shirts and irreverent attitude towards the establishment.

Vivienne Isabel Swire was born on April 8, 1941 in the town of Tintwhistle in Derbyshire (England), the eldest of 3 children.

His working-class parents were good with their hands. They encouraged her to do things, which she enthusiastically did. But they were deeply puzzled by her daughter’s addiction to reading, and once paid him to destroy her library card.

She had an enviable self-confidence, believing herself to be an exceptional artisan. At Glossop Primary School, she saw herself as “sort of a champion”. “Honestly,” she said, “at the age of five, she could have made a pair of shoes.”

She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. (AND)