Vivienne Westwood: what we know about the great fashion avant-garde

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The great English designer Vivienne Westwood turned 75 this month.

The punk queen, an icon of fashionable avant-garde, a born creator - Vivienne has always worked and continues to do so to this day. Her models are similar to Alice's revived fantasies in Wonderland, transferred to the catwalk. Despite his advanced age, the fashion designer is still not afraid to take risks and shock: her collections are not shocking, not a challenge to society, but a unique vision that no one else has in the fashion world.
They love Vivienne for their uncompromising attitude, their unwillingness to adapt to the expectations of the majority, for their honesty and courage, for the style that they completely invented, without regard to time, world trends and fashion laws. Her punk attitude to life and British patriotism became a legend. An anarchist at its core, Westwood creates its own laws, rather than abiding by written rules. Always trendy and mischievous, she amazes everyone with her antics, such as a children's T-shirt from the 2005 collection with the inscription: "I AM NOT A TERRORIST, do not arrest me." Nobody arrests Westwood; on the contrary, the Queen granted her the title of Lady of the British Empire.

“We can take democracy for granted only if we defend our freedom”

Vivienne westwood

1.Only a few know how to be themselves.

At school, Vivienne Isabelle Svayr was an outcast, because she dressed the worst and wore a “strange” hairstyle. Britain’s future best designer has learned to turn her flaws into virtues. The image of the "white crow", a girl with a strange asymmetric fleece in baggy bloomers, taught her the simple truth: many people know how to be, but few are far from themselves.

2. Fight the circumstances.

Vivienne's first great love could not stand the test of poverty: the marriage with Derek Westwood fell apart. With a baby in her arms and without a penny of money, Vivienne was forced to live as a poor relative of her brothers and sisters. She found the strength to push herself from the bottom and entered the British School of Art. There, her "strange" style doomed to an academic form.

3. Fashion can save a life.

At school, Westwood met her future husband and life partner, Malcolm Maclaren. She became pregnant a second time and borrowed money for an abortion. On the way to the clinic, Vivienne saw a stunning coat in the shop window. It was expensive: like the operation. Westwood thought an hour, and the coat won. The youngest son of a madcap is the creator of Agent Provocateur's sexy lingerie empire Joseph Corr.

4. Believe in yourself and your friends, then you can defeat the whole world.

McLaren and Westwood opened a store with wallpaper from porn magazines and rubber curtains, which sold the attributes of sex shops and records of forbidden rock groups. The store was called Live Fast Die Young and has become a gathering place for informal youth. Malcolm became the manager of The Strand, an unnecessary loser group.
Westwood decided to “decorate” the nascent creation: to come up with an appropriate image for all this based on post-war films: leather jackets, leather jackets, tight trousers, checkered jackets, torn mesh t-shirts with provocative inscriptions. Many years passed before the seedy group became a rock icon of the 20th century, the ideologists of the punk movement, the legendary Sex Pistols.

5. Never rest on your laurels.

By the end of the 1970s, McLaren and Westwood had become rich and unquestioned fashion authorities, and the “punk” and personal style that they invented suddenly became mainstream. And then Westwood decided to conquer the high podium. Success and recognition is only the beginning, just an incentive to begin a new path to new success.

6. Do not be afraid to be honest when doing your calling.

The most high-profile action by Sex Pistols was the creation of a punk anthem - a parody of the UK anthem, the song God Save The Queen. In it, musicians, driven by their founders, Westwood and Maclaren, ridiculed and insulted the British Queen Elizabeth. 35 years after this, Vivienne was awarded the great monarch's honor to receive the Queen of Honor from the Queen of the British Empire.

7. The modern avant-garde is a return to the roots.

By registering the rights to the Vivienne Westwood brand, Vivien turned to history. Her first collection was inspired by her favorite book, The Three Musketeers. Westwood passionately studied historical clothing, drawing inspiration from books, museums, and paintings. She became a regular guest at antique shops.

8. Do not be afraid to be incomprehensible.

In one of her first collections, Westwood found an extravagant way of showing underwear: bras on models were worn over blouses. Later, this move was repeated by Jean-Paul Gaultier, and ten years later the trend became widespread.

9. Stand your ground and go to your goal.

Westwood's style became the antipode of minimalism in the 1990s. Commercial success came to her only at the end of the century, when Vivienne was already almost 60. It's ridiculous, but not the insanely brilliant clothes of Vivienne Westwood, but the first perfume of the punk queen, “Boudoir”, began to bring profit. By any means. Better late than never. Even if in your youth you didn’t have a penny, you will certainly get rich if you really want to, and go to the goal, doing only what you like.

10. Do not be afraid to age with a body. Be careful not to get old.

Westwood is now married to her former apprentice, Austrian designer Andreas Krontaler, who is two times younger than herself.
Photo: Google, Flickr

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