Vivienne Westwood

Nasce a Tintwistle, piccolo villaggio del Derbyshire in Inghilterra. Dopo il primo matrimonio e un figlio con Derek Westwood, iniziò una relazione con Malcolm McLaren, destinato a diventare il manager dei Sex Pistols. Nel 1971insieme aprirono il loro primo negozio, Let it Rock, al 430 di King's Road, Londra. Il negozio prese diversi nomi nel corso degli anni, seguendo l'evoluzione stilistica di Vivienne: nel 1972 Too fast to live too young to die, nel 1974 Sex in seguitoSeditionaries e infine World's End, rimasto fino ad oggi e conosciuto per la celebre insegna con l'orologio che gira al contrario. Negli anni '70 Vivienne Weswtood contribuì a creare lo stile punk, con creazioni stravaganti e provocatorie. La prima sfilata di Westwood a Londra è del marzo 1981, con la collezione Pirate. I suoi modelli ora non traevano più ispirazione soltanto dalla moda di strada e dal mondo giovanile, ma da tradizione e tecnica. La sua ricerca, prendendo vari spunti dalla storia del costume del XVII e XVIII secolo, ha esplorato tutte le epoche: Vivienne Westwood è stata la prima stilista contemporanea a riproporre con determinazione, modernizzandoli, il corsetto e il faux-cul, elementi di sartoria che sembravano ormai sepolti in un tempo lontano.

La sua ispirazione trae inoltre forza da varie influenze che le derivano dall'amore per la storia, la pittura e l'impegno sociale e politico. Nel settembre 2005 Vivienne Westwood ha deciso di dare il suo pieno appoggio al movimento per la difesa dei diritti civili Liberty creando delle t-shirt da collezione che recano lo slogan I AM NOT A TERRORIST, please don't arrest me. Non a caso le sue ultime collezioni si intitolano Propaganda, Active Resistance e Active Resistance to Propaganda e testimoniano il suo forte dissenso nei confronti delle amministrazioni Blair e Bush.

Nel corso degli ultimi anni Vivienne Westwood è stata insignita di varie onorificenze, tra le quali il titolo di Ufficiale dell'Impero Britannico. In seguito le vengono attribuiti altri premi come Dama Comandante dell'Impero Britannico e per due volte Stilista britannico dell'anno.

Curiosità

Ha riscosso molto successo negli ultimi anni, grazie alla famosa creazione della mangaka Ai Yazawa, Nana. Difatti nell'anime e nel manga vengono rappresentati degli anelli o altra oggettistica marcata Westwood, mentre nel live action Mika Nakashima ne indossa alcuni. Come effetto collaterale, nello stesso manga si fa riferimento ai Sex Pistols. La stessa Vivienne aveva consigliato che nel gruppo britannico entrasse Sid Vicious, che nel manga viene paragonato a Ren. Esperta di musica colta e di tendenza ha sempre usato come dj delle sue sfilate Matteo Ceccarini.

Nel film Sex and the City l'abito da sposa di Carrie Bradshaw è firmato da Vivienne Westwood.

Early life of Vivienne Westwood

Westwood was born Vivienne Isabel Swire in the village of Tintwistle, Derbyshire^{[N 1]} on 8 April 1941,^[2] the daughter of Gordon Swire and Dora Swire (née Ball), who had married two years previously, two weeks after the outbreak of World War II.^[3] At the time of Vivienne's birth, her father was employed as a storekeeper in an aircraft factory; he had previously worked as a greengrocer.^[3]

Aged 17, Vivienne and her family moved to Harrow, London. She studied at the Harrow School of Art - University of Westminster, taking fashion and silversmithing, but she left after one term saying, "I didn't know how a working-class girl like me could possibly make a living in the art world".^[4] After taking up a job in a factory and studying at a teacher-training college, she became a primary school teacher.^[2] During this period, she also created her own jewellery, which she would sell at a stall on Portobello Road.^[2]

In 1961, Vivienne Swire met Derek Westwood, a Hoover factory apprentice, in Harrow.^[5] They married on 21 July 1962 and Vivienne made her own wedding dress for the ceremony.^[5] In 1963, she gave birth to a son, Benjamin Westwood.^[5]

[edit]Malcolm McLaren

When she met Malcolm McLaren, it signified the end of Westwood's marriage to Derek. Westwood and McLaren moved to a council flat inClapham. Westwood continued to teach until 1971 when Malcolm decided to open a boutique at 430 King's Road called "Let It Rock" (later known variously as "Sex", "Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die", and "Seditionaries") and now Worlds Ends, where Westwood sells her Vivienne Westwood label clothing.

Westwood created clothes which McLaren conceived, drawing inspiration from bikers, fetishists and prostitutes.^[6] During this period, McLaren became manager of the punk band Sex Pistols and subsequently the two garnered attention as the band wore Westwood and McLaren's designs. While living in their flat in Clapham, Westwood and McLaren had a child, another son, named Joseph.^{[citation needed]}

Punk era

Westwood was deeply interested in the punk fashion phenomenon of the 1970s, saying "I was messianic about punk, seeing if one could put a spoke in the system in some way".^[5] The "punk style" includedBDSM fashion, bondage gear, safety pins, razor blades, bicycle or lavatory chains on clothing and spiked dog collars for jewellery, as well as outrageous make-up and hair. Essential design elements include the adoption of traditional elements of Scottish design such as tartan fabric. Amongst the more unusual elements of her style is the use of historical 17th and 18th century cloth cutting principles, and reinterpreting these in, for instance, radical cutting lines to men's trousers. Use of these traditional elements make the overall effect of her designs more shocking.

Vivienne Westwood company

Westwood has five exclusively-owned shops; three in London, one in Leeds, and one in Milan. Franchise stores are located in Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, three in Manchester and most recently, in FH Mall, Nottingham (20 March 2008), and in Blake Street, York (11 September 2008).^{[citation needed]} She also has showrooms in Milan, Paris and Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]}

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Artistic collections

The pair of heels designed by Westwood in which Naomi Campbell famously stumbled while modelling at Westwood's fashion show in 1993^[7]

Her first catwalk show was presented in 1981, featuring the collaboration of Westwood and McLaren. The theme that year was Pirates.^[8] Subsequent Westwood's theme titles in the early years included Savage (1982), Buffalo Girls (Autumn/Winter 1982–83) and Clint Eastwood, (Autumn-Winter 1984–85) under the Worlds Ends Label she stopped producing the line in 1985 to concertrate on her Vivienne Westwood Lines. Vivienne Westwood says (“Sometimes you need to transport your idea to an empty landscape and then populate it with fantastic looking people.”).^[8]

She dubbed the period 1981 to 1985 New romantice and 1988 -1991 "The Pagan Years" during which "Vivienne’s heroes changed from punks and ragamuffins to ‘Tatler’ girls wearing clothes that parodied the upper class."^[9] The period from 1993 to 1999 she called "Anglomania" and from 2000 to the present – "Exploration".^[10][11]

Her Autumn/Winter 2005/06 Propaganda Collection drew inspiration from her archive, reinterpreting designs using Wolford's exclusive knitting technology. Westwood has worked in close collaboration with Wolford since 2003.^{[citation needed]} In 2006, she collaborated with Nine West, whose shoes are not designed directly by Westwood, however the Nine West brand name shares its label with Westwood. Westwood's Gold Label and MAN hats are created by Prudence Millinery. In December 2003, she and the Wedgwoodpottery company launched a series of tea sets featuring her designs.^{[citation needed]}

The first major retrospective of her work was shown in 2004–5 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. The exhibition, created from approximately 145 complete outfits grouped into the themes from the early 1970s to the present day, was drawn from her own personal archive and the V&A's extensive collection. The designs ranged from early punk garments to glamorous "historical" evening gowns.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2011 her collections were presented at the catwalk of The Brandery fashion show in Barcelona.^[12

Vivienne Westwood's London

In January 2011, Westwood was featured in a Canadian-made television documentary called Vivienne Westwood's London in which she takes the viewer through her favourite parts of London, including the Courtauld Institute of Art, the Wallace Collection, Whitechapel (accompanied by Sarah Stockbridge), Hampton Court, the London Symphony Orchestra, Brixton Market and Electric Avenue, and the National Gallery. Her purpose, she said, was to share her love of high culture and to impress its importance on the current generation: "I love this city and its culture. I want to encourage people to love art and believe that culture can save the world. Culture is about people's outlook on the world and along with art, is the anchor that holds us together as a people and gives life greater meaning."^[27]

Personal life

Dame Vivienne Westwood is currently married to her former fashion student, Austrian-born Andreas Kronthaler. For 30 years Westwood lived in the council flat in Clapham until, in 2000, Kronthaler convinced Westwood to move into a Queen Anne style house built in 1703, which once belonged to the mother of Captain Cook.^[30] Westwood does not watch television or read newspapers or magazines. However she is a keen gardener.^[31]

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