THE QUEEN OF PUNK VIVIENNE WESTWOOD HAS DIED

“Buy less. Choose well. Make it last. Quality, not quantity. Everybody’s buying far too many clothes.” Another fashion talent left without the possibility of being replaced. Born in Glossop, Derbyshire, one and only Dame Vivienne moved to London in 1958 to study at Harrow School of Art. A critical moment in her career was meeting Malcom McLaren, leader of the punk band The Sex Pistols. They opened a shop called SEX at the bottom end of Kings Road, selling the most provocative punk designs that shocked bourgeois society. They were the pioneers of the most powerful subculture in England, Punk. Fashion was connected to music, and their designs were uniform for young rebels standing out from the obedient and quiet citizens. Their boutique ”Too Fast to Live”, ”Too Young to Die”, ”Sex” and finally, ”Seditionaries” — was a youth fashion mecca where they all gathered and supported each other. Vivienne built her fashion voice, created collections, and opened several shops. Her designs were not just rebellious; she was deeply in love with historical costumes, which is reflected in her designs. She was known outside the UK, and her designs brought a new fashion vision to the stage. She also taught at the Vienna University of Applied Arts and mentored many young students on their path to the fashion industry. Her energy and free spirit made her one of the most significant fashion designers of the 20 century. In 2007 she was awarded for Outstanding Achievement in Fashion Design at the British Fashion Awards, in 2010 she was honored at a ceremony for the Prince Philip Designers Prize and in 2011 she was named Britain's Greatest British Fashion Designer. It is impossible to name each award and recognition for Vivienne. She was a free spirit and had bold ideas about politics, justice, climate change and fashion. Her role in activism was irreplaceable; she stood for more conscious fashion production and less consumerism. Those ideas were communicated through her collections and often written in big letters. She was an outstanding fashion designer and the leader; even more than that, she was an artist and political activist, and fashion was her powerful tool—aesthetic ideas to change the world. We will always cherish her heritage.