From Punk to Prosecution, Vivienne Westwood’s Most Iconic Moments

British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood has died at the age of 81.

The news was announced on December 29, 2022 by her family, who confirmed in a statement she had died “peacefully and surrounded by her family” at her home in Clapham, southwest London.

After the announcement, Westwood’s husband and creative partner, Andreas Kronthaler, said: “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.”

Malcolm McLaren (1946 -2010) center, in front of an installation of Sex Pistols ephemera, including t-shirts he designed with Vivienne Westwood, at the opening reception of his exhibition at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in titled “Impresario: Malcolm McLaren and the British New Wave” on September 14, 1988 in New York City, New York. Catherine McGann/Getty Images

Westwood, often deemed the “Queen of British Fashion” is credited with bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream as well as supporting sustainability in fashion.

She also used her designs to promote many political causes such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, climate change, and civil rights groups.

From punk to prosecution, Newsweek has taken a look at Vivienne Westwood’s most iconic moments.

1. Punk Fashion and SEX

In 1971, young fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and her then partner Malcolm McLaren opened a small boutique called “Let it Rock” at 430 Kings Road, Chelsea, in London.

A year later, they re-branded the store to include more biker-inspired clothing and named the shop”Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die.”

Westwood and McLaren began to print provocative slogans onto their own t-shirts and in 1974, they rebranded Too Fast to Live to SEX.

SEX became known for merging fashion with the British punk scene. McLaren and Westwood’s designs were worn by the band that McLaren managed, the Sex Pistols.

2. Prosecution

In 1975, Westwood and McLaren were fined for an “indecent exhibition” held at their store SEX in King’s Road. According to Westwood’s website, they were also prosecuted under the 1959 Obscene Publications Act, which made it an offense to publish “obscene” material and gave the police powers to seize items they deemed explicit.

In response, McClaren and Westwood produced even more t-shirts that displayed even more hard-core and political images.

British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood outside Bow Street Magistrate’s Court, where she was facing a Breach of the Peace case. Peter Cade/Getty Images

3. Margaret Thatcher Tatler Cover

In April 1989, Westwood appeared on the cover of Tatler, dressed as Britain’s then Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. She was wearing an Aquascutum suit that had been ordered for Thatcher but had not yet been delivered.

The caption on the cover read: “This woman was once a punk” and was written in Sex Pistols-style torn newsprint typography.

Reflecting on the iconic cover in a conversation with The Independent, Westwood described the costume as the “maddest thing” she has ever worn.

4. Westwood’s OBE

After collecting her OBE, a British honor, from Queen Elizabeth II in 1992, Westwood showed off her outfit to photographers outside.

Giving a twirl, Westwood’s skirt blew up, revealing she was wearing nothing underneath apart from sheer tights.

Speaking to The Guardian about the famous pictures, Westwood explained she had simply wanted to show off her outfit.

She said: “It did not occur to me that, as the photographers were practically on their knees, the result would be more glamorous than I expected.”

“I heard that the picture amused the Queen,” she added.

5. The MacAndreas Clan

In 1993, Westwood created her own tartan for her ‘Anglomania’ Autumn-Winter 1993/94 collection and invented her own clan, MacAndreas.

The clan was named after her husband and design partner Andreas Kronthaler.

The Lochcarron of Scotland officially recognized the clan, a process which usually takes 200 years to achieve, and it was added to the Scottish Register of Tartans.

For her Spring-Summer 2023 collection, the MacAndreas tartan was revived and now can be seen on polo shirts, dresses, skirts as well as knitwear.

(L-R) Andreas Kronthaler, Bella Hadid and Vivienne Westwood walks the runway during the Vivienne Westwood show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2020/2021 on February 29, 2020 in Paris, France. Peter White/Getty Images

6. David Cameron Protests

In 2015, Westwood drove a tank to the home of the then-British prime minister, David Cameron, in Oxfordshire to protest against fracking (the practice of extracting gas by drilling into subterranean rock).

She said: “Cameron accuses foreign leaders such as President Gaddafi and President Assad of supposedly using chemicals on their own people as a justification for regime change.

Fashion designer and environmental campaigner Vivienne Westwood rides on top of an armored personnel carrier (APC) towards the home of British Prime Minister David Cameron’s home in Chadlington, Oxfordshire on September 11, 2015 to highlight the Government’s plan to use hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to recover fossil fuels from the ground in regions of the north of England. The vehicle parked outside the prime minister’s home before a group of protestors in gas masks led chants and held banners calling for the Government to change its policy on the controversial plans. LEON NEAL/AFP via Getty Images

“But he is doing precisely that here in Britain by forcing toxic, life-threatening fracking chemicals on his own people against the advice of his own chief scientist.”It’s time for regime change in Britain. Cameron plans to force householders to surrender their land and endure fracking underneath their homes. Britons no longer have any choice but to fight back,” she said, according to The Guardian.

Her protest came after an announcement by Cameron’s government that it would offer licenses for fracking in 27 locations in the U.K.

In 2014, she attempted to deliver a Christmas card and a box of asbestos to Cameron to highlight the dangers of fracking.

7. Support for Julian Assange

At the age of 79, Westwood showed her support for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange outside The Old Bailey court in London.

For seven years, Assange took refuge in London’s Ecuadorean embassy, fighting extradition to Sweden, where he was wanted for questioning in a case that was later dropped. British police eventually arrested him in 2019 and the U.S. sought his extradition to face 18 charges, including espionage. Westwood was one of his staunchest supporters throughout this time.

In 2012, during London Fashion Week she began wearing a black and white T-shirt, which read “I Am Julian Assange” and handed it out to the attendees at her spring 2013 runway show.

Dame Vivienne Westwood sits inside a giant bird cage in a protest over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Old Bailey on July 21, 2020 in London, England. Dame Vivienne Westwood, re-entering public life for the first time after having been shielding for 16 weeks during the COVID-19 lockdown, is suspended in a giant birdcage in front of The Old Bailey Criminal Court, in protest against the extradition to the U.S. of Julian Assange. Karwai Tang/WireImage)

For years she visited Assange at the Ecuadorean Embassy as well as Belmarsh Prison after his arrest in April 2019.

In July 2020, dressed in a bright yellow suit and black combat boots, Westwood climbed inside a giant bird cage and suspended herself 10 feet in the air to protest against Assange’s extradition to the U.S.

Using a microphone, Westwood shouted: “I am the canary in the coal mine. If I die down the coal mine from poisonous gas, that’s the signal for all the miners to leave”, reported W Magazine.

Assange is currently incarcerated at Belmarsh prison. Paying tribute to Westwood on behalf of her husband following the announcement of her death, Assange’s wife Stella said Westwood was a “good friend” and “the best of Britain”.