https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2022/dec/29/dame-vivienne-westwood-fashion-designer-dies-aged-81 [p] Skip to main contentSkip to navigation Print subscriptions Sign in Search jobs Search US edition[ ] * US edition * UK edition * Australia edition * International edition The Guardian - Back to homeThe Guardian [ ] * News * Opinion * Sport * Culture * Lifestyle ShowMoreShow More * [ ]News + View all News + US news + World news + Environment + Soccer + US politics + Business + Tech + Science + Newsletters + Fight to vote * [ ]Opinion + View all Opinion + The Guardian view + Columnists + Letters + Opinion videos + Cartoons * [ ]Sport + View all Sport + Soccer + NFL + Tennis + MLB + MLS + NBA + NHL + F1 * [ ]Culture + View all Culture + Film + Books + Music + Art & design + TV & radio + Stage + Classical + Games * [ ]Lifestyle + View all Lifestyle + Fashion + Food + Recipes + Love & sex + Home & garden + Health & fitness + Family + Travel + Money * Search input [ ] google-search Search + Support us + Print subscriptions * [ ]US edition + UK edition + Australia edition + International edition + Europe edition * + Search jobs + Digital Archive + Guardian Puzzles app + Guardian content licensing site + The Guardian app + Video + Podcasts + Pictures + Inside the Guardian + Guardian Weekly + Crosswords + Corrections * + Facebook + Twitter * + Search jobs + Digital Archive + Guardian Puzzles app + Guardian content licensing site * Fashion * Food * Recipes * Love & sex * Home & garden * Health & fitness * Family * Travel * Money Fashion Dame Vivienne Westwood, fashion designer, dies aged 81 Iconoclastic British designer rose to prominence by outfitting the Sex Pistols as punk took off in the 1970s Vivienne Westwood, who has died at the age of 81, was a fashion designer whose work challenged expectations. SEX, the boutique she ran on the King's Road with Malcolm McLaren, was the arguably birthplace of punk. [ ] Vivienne Westwood, who has died at the age of 81. Her King's Road boutique was arguably the birthplace of punk. Photograph: Elisa Leonelli/REX/Shutterstock Vivienne Westwood, who has died at the age of 81. Her King's Road boutique was arguably the birthplace of punk. Photograph: Elisa Leonelli/REX/Shutterstock Alyx Gorman @AlyxG Thu 29 Dec 2022 16.21 ESTLast modified on Thu 29 Dec 2022 17.55 EST * * * Dame Vivienne Westwood, the British fashion designer who played a key role in the punk movement, has died in London at the age of 81. Westwood died "peacefully, surrounded by her family" in Clapham, south London on Thursday, her representatives said in a statement. Her 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. Thank you darling." 'I've always been a rebel': Vivienne Westwood on squaring environmental activism with selling fashion Read more Westwood, a former primary school teacher, rose to prominence in the 1970s. Her provocative and sometimes controversial designs came to define the punk aesthetic. She outfitted many bands of the era, including the Sex Pistols, from the shop she co-ran with then partner Malcolm McLaren. From the 1980s onwards, Westwood became one of Britain's most celebrated fashion designers, blending historical references, classic tailoring and romantic flourishes with harder edged and sometimes overtly political messages. Tributes poured in for the designer. On Instagram, photographer Nick Knight described her as "an amazing woman and an amazing designer". Fashion commentator Derek Blasberg said that while textbooks may remember Westwood for "ushering in London's counterculture scene to high fashion ... I think she'd want to be remembered most for her advocacy, specifically [concerning] global warming". He added: "The last time I saw her, in 2020, she was (and this not a joke) dressed up like a yellow canary and swinging inside a giant birdcage stationed outside London's criminal courthouse, Old Bailey. Her life was aggressive, relentless and fabulous. A total original." The representatives' statement said she continued to do the things she loved, including designing, working on her book and making art, "up until the last moment". Vivienne Westwood: her life and career - in pictures Read more The representatives said Westwood considered herself a Taoist - a follower of the Chinese philosophy of Taoism - and issued a statement previously made by Westwood on the subject. "Tao spiritual system. There was never more need for the Tao today," she wrote. "Tao gives you a feeling that you belong to the cosmos and gives purpose to your life; it gives you such a sense of identity and strength to know you're living the life you can live and therefore ought to be living: make full use of your character and full use of your life on Earth." Westwood is survived by Kronthaler, who is her second husband, and her two sons: fashion photographer Ben Westwood, her son with Derek Westwood, and her son with McLaren, Joe Corre, who co-founded the lingerie company Agent Provocateur. 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