Biography
Vivien Westwood - a woman whose biography is worthy of film release. Wivien's life is the story of an ordinary teacher who turned his own fond of fashion to his profession, was not afraid to completely change the fate and make a favorite thing. Later, Westwood was spoken by both the Punk and Kitch, the legislature of the mod and the eternal rebar, but at the beginning of this path there were only faith in themselves and sincere thirst for creativity.Childhood and youth
Vivien Isabel Suire - such a name The future fashion designer received at birth - appeared in the English County Cheshire. As a child, the creative nature did not show anything: the girl went to an ordinary school, where he was considered a diligent student. Everything changed in 1958, when the Sayr family moved to London.
At that time, Vivien had already graduated from school and stood before choosing a further path. In his youth, the metropolitan life spoke her head, and the young lady decided to engage in creativity, enrolling in an art school.
Unfortunately, the moment turned out to be inappropriate: Vivien's family lived poorly, and the girl got married, and had to think about constant earnings. So the future legislator of the fashion left art school and entered the pedagogical college to get an "earthly" profession. A few years later, the future designer had already worked as a teacher of primary classes, however, the sketches continued to draw and sew clothes for themselves.
In one of the interviews, Vivien was recognized that he finally decided to become a designer after the first wedding: there were no money for the fashionable outfit, and she, like every girl, wanted to wear something special on that day. So the bride herself thought over and sewed her own wedding dress.
The next chance that finally pushed the Wonder to the most important decision in life was to acquaint him with Malcolm Maclaren - a musician, producer and ideological inspirer of the SEX Pistols cult band. This man was so inspired by Vivien, that she decided to leave school and open his own business.
Career and Design
In 1971, a joint boutique of Westudud and Malcolm McLaren opened. The store was called LET IT Rock. The name turned out to be justified by the outfits that were offered to buyers: rebellious, non-standard, booty - precisely they asked the direction of the style of rock culture of the time.However, Vivienne's existing Phaood seemed not enough, and already in 1974 the name of the boutique changed to Sex, and the style of clothing became frank.
At that moment, the direction of punk in clothing began to be formed - thanks to the foundations laid by Westoud.
The inalienable attributes of this style are latex and leather, steel inserts and sharp decorative spikes, bright makeup and unusual hairstyles. In addition, Vivien was not afraid to use elements of bdsm attributes and even the range of sex shops. For its time, these collections of clothing and accessories turned out to be brave and provocative.
Interest in such dresses increased, but the real popularity of Westwood brought the appearance of the SEX Pistols group. The designer took up the creation of stage images for members of the team, and after some time the fans of "sex pistols" wanted to wear the same clothes as their idols.
Unfortunately, the cult punk team collapsed (the final point in the work of the musicians was the death of Solist Sid Vishez). In the early 1980s, the store changed the name on WORLD's End, and Vivienne itself officially registered his own Vivienne Westwood brand. This was the beginning of a new era in the work of the fashion designer.
Now Westwood interested street fashion. In the already familiar provocative manner, the designer pulled the tradition of high fashion, creating simple, comfortable and at the same time non-standard outfits. Vivien was able to introduce fashion to huge pockets, as well as "drawn" elbows and knees. Clothes, at first glance, seemingly ridiculous and alaepod, could soon be seen hardly on every London fashionista.
However, this ambitious Westwood turned out to be a little: with the next collection, the designer went to Paris and other European capitals, demonstrating new techniques and surprising fashion and critics. Later style, which Vivienit promoted at that time, will name "luxury of rags and stretched sweaters." Nevertheless, deliberately rough stitches, holes, patch and blossomed loops quickly became popular.
Another distinctive feature of the Vivien models is the use of bright and unexpected details in casual clothes, evening dresses and decorations. The designer was not afraid of ethnic motifs: graphic patterns, decorative feathers, beads and wooden parts.
In the 1990s and 1991, Westwood was awarded the title of the best designer of the year according to the British Fashion Council. In the same period, the fashion designer became a professor of the Vienna Academy of Art - and this is considering that Vivien's art education never received.
Models of clothing, developed by the designer, were inspired by their own admission, John Galliano and Alexander McQueen. No less well known customers and names of the clients of the fashion house Vivienne Westwood: Singer Gwen Stephanie and the model Naomi Campbell, Rock-kumir Mick Jagger and the Japanese star Nakasim Mika - a list of celebrities - wasting style fans can continue infinitely. And the heroine of Sarah Jessica Parker - Carrie Bradshow - in the full-length film "Sex in the Big City" appeared in a wedding dress from Vivien.
In 2016, the brand replaced the name. Now the case of life Westwood is known as Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood. Designer husband Andreas Crontar became a faithful ally and a permanent co-author of new collections.
In 2018, Vivien has released a collateral with the Burberry brand. This collaboration has become one of the most anticipated collections of this year. According to designers, in addition to the love of fashion, they advocated the general desire to support the general desire to support the non-profit organization Cool Earth, which fights for the salvation of rainforest. So part of the money received from the sale of new models was donated for charity.
Activism
Westwood is a famous political and eco -activist, which uses the podium to express its views. In 2005, Vivien as a protest against the UK immigration policy created a T-shirt with the inscription "I am not a terrorist, do not arrest me."
Also, the designer took part in the nuclear disarmament campaign, supported the idea of Independence of Scotland, protested against the extraction of shale oil.
Vivien is a vegetarian and an advocate of animal rights. She refused to expand her own business and at the Vivienne Westwood FW 2019/20 show called fans to acquire less clothing and not contaminate the planet. This idea is not new for Westwood - back in 2013 she was not ashamed to make a remark by the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton for the fact that she too often changes the wardrobe and buys unreasonably many outfits.
Particularly spectacular was the action in support of the founder of WikiLeaks Julian Assange in July 2020: near the criminal court building in London Vivien in a yellow suit portrayed a canary, locked in a large bird cage. According to Westwood, Assange is a hero who told the world about the crimes of world powers.
Personal life
The personal life of the designer was no less bright than the career. The first husband of the fashion designer became the dend of Westwood. In this marriage, two children were born - the son of Benjamin and daughter Rose. Malkolm McLaren became the second chisel, her inspirer, associate and co-founder of the first fashion store. Vivienus gave Malcolm Son Joseph.Both Sons Westwood went to the footsteps of the mother and tied life with the world of fashion and art. Senior Ben became a photographer erotic genre. Joseph founded his own fashion brand Agent Provocateur, glorified by luxurious and frank underwear models, as well as exquisite aromas and decorations.
After parting, Wivien with McLaren in the press some time was talked about the numerous novels of the fashion designer. And soon Westwood announced marriage with Andreas CronTer, a long-time admirer and a former student. Despite the difference in age (more than 20 years), these relationships were strong.
For the news of the life and creativity of the designer, the fans follow the Westwood page in "Instagram", where she lay out new photos from the shows. In addition, the law legislator has released several books in which the details of their own path to the top of Glory have shared.
Vivien Westudu now
Now the brand Westwood continues to dictate the direction of fashion development and remains one of the most popular in the world - the number of Vivienne Westwood boutiques exceeds 500. Under this brand, several clothing lines are available: for young women, men, casual and exclusive handmade wardrobe items. For 2021, the designer's condition exceeded $ 50 million.
On April 8, the fashion designer celebrated the 80th anniversary. In honor of the anniversary Vivien, together with the organization, Circa released a short film DO NOT BUY A BOMB, which was demonstrated on the largest screen in Europe - on Piccadilly Square in London. In the tape, Westwood sang a song without you from the musical "My beautiful Lady" and told about the problems of ecology.