British fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood dies aged 81

Representatives say she died surrounded by family in her London home

British fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood has died, aged 81. Getty Images

Westwood died 'peacefully, and surrounded by her family in Clapham', her representatives said. AFP

Westwood with her husband and creative partner Andreas Kronthaler. AFP

Westwood after her investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace in June 2006. AP

Westwood at the end of her Mary Queen of Scots-inspired autumn/winter 1997 show in Paris. AFP

Queen Elizabeth II and Westwood at Buckingham Palace in March 1999. PA

Kate Moss with Westwood in December 2009. PA

Westwood in 1983, when she was at the centre of the punk movement. Getty Images

Malcolm McLaren, centre, manager of punk rock band Sex Pistols, with Westwood outside a British court in 1977. Getty Images

Westwood after her spring/summer 2006 show in Paris. AP

Westwood with her son Joe Corre, right, and Oliver Simpson, nine, protesting against fracking. AFP

Richard Branson with Westwood in September 1992. AFP

Jerry Hall and Westwood in January 2005. PA

Westwood at an anti-fracking protest in December 2018. PA

Westwood won the Positive Change honour at the British Fashion Awards in 2018. AFP

Westwood after her autumn/winter 2015 show during London Fashion Week. AP

Sarah, Duchess of York, with Westwood at Claridge's, London, in 2004. PA

Camilla, then Duchess of Cornwall, right, with Westwood in 2019. PA

From left, Kronthaler, model Bella Hadid and Westwood after the designer's autumn/winter show in Paris in 2020. Reuters

Dame Vivienne Westwood, the pioneering, provocative British designer who help spearhead the punk movement of the 1970s, has died aged 81.

Westwood died on Thursday “peacefully, and surrounded by her family in Clapham, south London”, 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.”

Westwood made a name for herself on the fashion scene in the 1970s, with her androgynous designs, slogan T-shirts and irreverent attitude towards the establishment.

The name Westwood became synonymous with style and attitude.

Climate change, pollution and her support for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange were all fodder for protest T-shirts or banners carried by her models on the runway.

Her former partner, Malcom Maclaren, was the manager of the Sex Pistols and was credited with synthesising the punk movement that sprang out of London in the late 1970s.

After the Sex Pistols split, the two held their first catwalk show in 1981, presenting a “new romantic” look of African-style patterns, buccaneer trousers and sashes.

Westwood, by then in her forties, began to slowly forge her own path in fashion, eventually separating from McLaren in the early 1980s.

Often looking to history, her influential designs have included corsets, Harris Tweed suits and taffeta ball gowns.

Vivienne Westwood appears on the catwalk after her show during the London Men's Fashion Week in 2017. EPA

Her 1985 “Mini-Crini” line introduced a short, puffed skirt and a more fitted silhouette. Her sky-high platform shoes garnered worldwide attention in 1993 when model Naomi Campbell stumbled on the catwalk in a pair.

“My clothes have a story. They have an identity. They have character and a purpose,” Westwood said.

“That's why they become classics. Because they keep on telling a story. They are still telling it.”

The Westwood brand flourished in the 1990s, with fashionistas flocking to her runway shows in Paris, and stores opening around the world selling her clothes, accessories and perfumes.

She met her second husband, Andreas Kronthaler, teaching fashion in Vienna. They married in 1993 and he later became her creative partner.

Westwood used her public profile to champion issues including nuclear disarmament and to protest against antiterrorism laws and government spending policies that affected the poor.

She held a large “climate revolution” banner at the 2012 Paralympics closing ceremony in London, and frequently turned her models into catwalk eco-warriors.

“I've always had a political agenda,” Westwood told L'Officiel fashion magazine in 2018.

“I've used fashion to challenge the status quo.”

British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood poses in a cage to protest the extradition of Wikleaks founder Julian Assange at the Central Criminal Court, commonly known as The Old Bailey in London on Tuesday. EPA

Ms Westwood sat in a bird cage pretending to be a canary to highlight perceived injustices over the extradition. EPA

Mr Assange is wanted on a series of charges relating to leaking US government secrets. EPA

The British fashion designer is an activist and often supports protest movements in the country. EPA

Vivienne Westwood arrives at The Old Bailey on Tuesday. EPA

Julian Assange's extradition hearings began after he was dragged from the Ecuadorian embassy, in which he had lived for seven year. AFP