Remembering Dame Vivienne Westwood: Industry personalities share memories of the British fashion queen
LONDON — Legendary WWD editor and editorial director John B. Fairchild described Vivienne Westwood as a “designer” and her peers certainly agree.
Designers and fashion industry figures paid tribute to Westwood, who died Thursday in 81 years old, describing her not only as an iconoclast, but also as a great teacher and role model.
Fairchild considered Westwood one of the six greatest designers in the world, alongside Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld, Emanuel Ungaro and Christian Lacroix.
Westwood signed a seven-year licensing agreement with Giorgio Armani in 1984 that gave the Italian designer exclusive rights to his name. But no clothes were ever produced under the deal, and in 1987 Westwood actually sued Armani for failing to pay her. Regardless, Armani told WWD on Friday: "I have an indelible image of Vivienne Westwood in my mind: I remember her on the cover of Tatler, decked out like Margaret Thatcher, she who had been the queen of punk, in an ironic portrait that went around the world. There was so much humor and so much culture in his work, always so irreverent but also rigorous, steeped in history but always innovative. I have long admired his ability to harmonize the extremes, respect for the past and absence of nostalgia, then that sharp and very elegant British sparkle.Fashion loses a true revolutionary.”
Related GalleriesRiccardo Tisci, who collaborated with Westwood and Andreas Kronthaler for a Burberry capsule collection in 2018, recalls having been exposed to the designer's work in his early days as a student in London.
“His influence was everywhere: in the streets, in clubs, in the halls of my college. The tartan, the graphics, the style - her work and more importantly her approach and attitude was unlike anything I had seen before: rebellious, fiercely honest and disruptive, yet romantic at the same time. She influenced me in so many ways, not just then, but as I continued my journey as a designer,” Tisci said.
"It was one of the greatest honors to have worked and spent time with her more recently. I was so touched by her creative generosity, humor, warmth, and tireless efforts to improve the world she lived in, and her encouragement to those around her to do the same. Dame Vivienne leaves an incredibly unique mark in fashion and beyond, and will be sorely missed as an unparalleled queen of fashion,” he added.
"I first met Vivienne in September 1976 at Louise's lesbian club on Poland Street in London, the only club to let us punks in. It was the end of the night and after blasting Siouxsie and the Banshees, the last dance was oddly, Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely." , Vivienne and I were alone on the dance floor. She asked me what I was doing, I replied that I was a fashion student at Saint Martins. She looked horrified, then I walked on his foot with my stylus...
LONDON — Legendary WWD editor and editorial director John B. Fairchild described Vivienne Westwood as a “designer” and her peers certainly agree.
Designers and fashion industry figures paid tribute to Westwood, who died Thursday in 81 years old, describing her not only as an iconoclast, but also as a great teacher and role model.
Fairchild considered Westwood one of the six greatest designers in the world, alongside Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld, Emanuel Ungaro and Christian Lacroix.
Westwood signed a seven-year licensing agreement with Giorgio Armani in 1984 that gave the Italian designer exclusive rights to his name. But no clothes were ever produced under the deal, and in 1987 Westwood actually sued Armani for failing to pay her. Regardless, Armani told WWD on Friday: "I have an indelible image of Vivienne Westwood in my mind: I remember her on the cover of Tatler, decked out like Margaret Thatcher, she who had been the queen of punk, in an ironic portrait that went around the world. There was so much humor and so much culture in his work, always so irreverent but also rigorous, steeped in history but always innovative. I have long admired his ability to harmonize the extremes, respect for the past and absence of nostalgia, then that sharp and very elegant British sparkle.Fashion loses a true revolutionary.”
Related GalleriesRiccardo Tisci, who collaborated with Westwood and Andreas Kronthaler for a Burberry capsule collection in 2018, recalls having been exposed to the designer's work in his early days as a student in London.
“His influence was everywhere: in the streets, in clubs, in the halls of my college. The tartan, the graphics, the style - her work and more importantly her approach and attitude was unlike anything I had seen before: rebellious, fiercely honest and disruptive, yet romantic at the same time. She influenced me in so many ways, not just then, but as I continued my journey as a designer,” Tisci said.
"It was one of the greatest honors to have worked and spent time with her more recently. I was so touched by her creative generosity, humor, warmth, and tireless efforts to improve the world she lived in, and her encouragement to those around her to do the same. Dame Vivienne leaves an incredibly unique mark in fashion and beyond, and will be sorely missed as an unparalleled queen of fashion,” he added.
"I first met Vivienne in September 1976 at Louise's lesbian club on Poland Street in London, the only club to let us punks in. It was the end of the night and after blasting Siouxsie and the Banshees, the last dance was oddly, Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely." , Vivienne and I were alone on the dance floor. She asked me what I was doing, I replied that I was a fashion student at Saint Martins. She looked horrified, then I walked on his foot with my stylus...
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