Designer profile: Vivienne Westwood

Celebrating the opening of her flagship store in Shanghai

Rachel Adams

Guardian.co.uk 19^th November 2011 – 19:48

For 30 years the work of Dame Vivienne Westwood has inspired and warmed our hearts with her irrational designs from Punk to Couture. Her signature and most famous design is that of the spinning globe topped with a studded cross that is seen on nearly all of her pieces; if not most definitely on all her handbags and purses. The tartan fabric tells the story of her punk era in the 70’s along with her bondage and chain style and was a visual that started her journey through the fashion world. When her new flagship store opens in Shanghai this week, there is guaranteed to be as much work on the visitors as there will be on the rails.

Vivienne was born in Derbyshire but at the aged of 17 moved to Harrow in London where she studied fashion and silversmithing. She didn’t get noticed until 1981 when she presented her first catwalk show which featured collaborations with former lover Malcolm McClaren. She went on to fulfil her dream of becoming a teacher, whilst making jewellery for her stall at Portobello Market. Her next step was to open a small boutique with McClaren on Kings Road called ‘Let it Rock’ where the dream started to become a reality.

Westwood’s collections have all been hugely successful and have been well received and as a result she is now recognised as one of the top designers of our generation. Westwood has flagship stores in Milan, Los Angeles and Paris as well as smaller franchise stores in Liverpool, Newcastle, and Glasgow, Nottingham, York and not to mention three in Manchester. Her most recent collection ‘Gold Label’ was showcased at Paris Fashion Week, and was a huge success due to the opening of the new store in Shanghai. She says “Fashion is global, influence comes from everywhere in the world. You can wear anything in our part of the world. Anything goes.”

Celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie and Lucy Lui have been seen wearing the designs at ‘Red Carpet’ events and such big names have promoted the Dame’s work. Vivienne stays true to her roots by still including her signature pieces which include leather jackets and punk style heels. She even continues to carry the punk look herself with her ever changing brightly coloured hair. The foreseeable future is bright for Westwood as her collections continue to grow and develop as she successfully places her ever unique stamp on the fashion world.