Following Dame Vivienne Westwood's passing, tributes to the "undisputed Queen of British fashion" have flooded in.
According to a statement from her design brand, she
passed away in London "peacefully and accompanied by her family."
Westwood, 81, gained notoriety in the 1970s for her
contentious punk and new wave looks and went on to outfit some of the greatest
names in fashion.
Marc Jacobs, a fellow designer, expressed his
"heartbreak" and remarked that she "never failed to surprise and
startle."
He posted an homage to her life and efforts on
Instagram, saying: "First to act was you. I never stop learning from your
words and all of your incredible inventions."
Westwood was dubbed a "force of nature" by
supermodel Naomi Campbell, who memorably fell while walking one of his runways
while wearing nine-inch platform shoes.
She described her own path from admiring Westwood from
afar as a teenager to working with her and calling her a friend in a heartfelt
homage.
Bella Hadid, a fellow model, called the designer
"the sun" of the fashion world and expressed gratitude for being in
her orbit.
"To the coolest, most enjoyable, amazing, modest,
creative, badass, smart, EPIC human being to have ever walked this world...
Rest in peace and in love, "Hadid wrote.
Andreas Kronthaler, Westwood's spouse and artistic
collaborator, declared after the announcement: "I shall carry Vivienne in
my heart.
We worked till the very end, and she gave me lots of
tasks to complete.
Westwood rose to fame thanks to her rebellious stance
toward the establishment, androgynous designs, and slogan T-shirts.
She was renowned for being a fervent campaigner and
took issues close to her heart, like as climate warming, to the catwalk.
In 2006, the fashion designer was appointed a dame for
her contributions.
She described her outfit as being intended to look
"a bit like Che Guevara, an urban guerrilla," a prominent figure in
the Cuban Revolution in the 1950s who later became a symbol of rebellion. She
had a black cap perched on the back of her bright orange hair, a dress with
campaign badges, and tiny silver horns on her head.
Before opening the clothes store Let It Rock on King's
Road in Chelsea with her then-partner Malcolm McLaren in the early 1970s,
Derbyshire-born Westwood worked as a primary school teacher.
Later, the company was renamed Sex, and McLaren
started managing the Sex Pistols, a punk music band formed up of regulars. They
became well-known in 1976 while sporting Westwood and McLaren creations.
A young American who later fronted the Pretenders was
one of the shop's employees. In a tribute, performer Chrissie Hynde stated that
the world was "already a less exciting place" without Westwood.
British fashion designer Jeff Banks described the
passing of his close friend as a "moment in history" and expressed
his deep sorrow over it.
She was a "genuine creator who will eternally
stand head and shoulders above her contemporaries and take her position forever
in the top echelons of her trade," according to Banks, who was just made a
director at Westwood's design business.
Tracey Emin, an artist, claimed that while Westwood
pushed and criticized her, he still liked and cared for her. For more than 20
years, they were close friends.
Boy George, a singer, described Westwood as
"wonderful and inspiring" and "without a doubt... the
uncontested Queen of British fashion" when they first met in the early
1980s.
She was dubbed "a ballsy lady who shocked the
fashion industry and stood fiercely for what was right" by music superstar
Sir Paul McCartney.
As a courageous designer who "created historic
fashion design moments that woke us all up and rocked the industry to its
core," his daughter, fashion designer Stella McCartney, credits Westwood
for influencing her career.
According to Sex Pistol bassist Glen Matlock, it was a
"pleasure to have rubbed shoulders" with her in the 1970s during the
early days of punk. He described her motivation as follows: "She desired
to cause a sensation. But she did everything very well."
Victoria Beckham, a Spice Girl and fellow fashion
designer, described her as a "renowned designer and campaigner."
She was referred to as a "genuine genius who
never lost her Northern grit" by actress Kim Cattrall on Instagram. She
related how Westwood, in an act of "generosity and charity," made
three costumes in three days for the Sex and the City actress so she could
attend movie premieres when other designers' creations were inappropriate.
Westwood's "unique voice will be irreplaceable
and lost," added supermodel Claudia Schiffer. Singer Billy Idol, who rose
to stardom on the London punk music scene, tweeted: "RIP it will take me a
while to take this in."
A "truly revolutionary and rebellious force in
fashion," in the words of the Victoria and Albert Museum, which displays
some of her creations.
A sad day, Vivienne Westwood was and will continue to
be a towering presence in British fashion, tweeted Culture Secretary Michelle
Donelan on Twitter.
"In the 1970s, her punk style rewrote the rules,
and she was highly acclaimed for how she lived her life in accordance with her
own principles."
Westwood launched her first formal fashion
presentation in 1981, known as the Pirate Collection, and she persisted in
drawing inspiration from French and British history.
In 1992, she wed Kronthaler, a former pupil who was 25
years her junior. In subsequent years, he progressively oversaw design work as
the company's creative director.
By the 2000s, Westwood was creating wedding gowns for
celebrities like Princess Eugenie and model Dita Von Tease, who wore his
creations at the nuptials of Prince William and Catherine. Von Teese wed
Marilyn Manson in a purple Westwood gown.
The Sex and The City movie from 2008 also included
some of her designs.
Just Stop Oil protestors last month tossed soup cans
on Van Gogh's artwork Sunflowers at the National Portrait Gallery with the
support of Westwood. On her website, she stated that "young people are
needy." "They are acting in some way."
In addition to climate change, Westwood became a
vociferous advocate for Julian Assange's freedom from extradition to the US to
face charges under the Espionage Act. She appeared in a massive bird cage
warning about an Assange "stitch up" in July 2020 while wearing
canary yellow clothing.
Stella Assange praised Westwood as a "pillar of
the anti-establishment" after the designer designed her wedding gown. She
referred to Westwood as a "good friend" in a letter on behalf of her
husband, who is presently being held in Belmarsh Prison.
The Westwood family's sons and granddaughter
established the Vivienne Foundation, which will debut in the next year with the
mission to "honor, safeguard, and carry on the legacy of Vivienne's life,
design, and advocacy."
Her family stated that it will engage with non-governmental
organizations to promote awareness and bring about change in the areas of
capitalism, halting war, protecting human rights, and combating climate change.