VIVIENNE WESTWOOD
DAME VIVIENNE WESTWOOD
Punk, icon, activist.
Born in on April 8th, 1941 in Derbyshire, England, a small rural area outside London.
From a small age, Westwood dreamed of one day living in the busy bustle of the city.
With an interest in the arts, she found herself studying jewelry and silversmith at the formerly known Harrow School of Art in London, now commonly known as Westminster.
Her studies fell short, leaving after just one semester of school.
“I didn’t know how a working-class girl like me could possibly make a living in the art world,” she admitted.
She married Derek Westwood in 1962, with whom she had a son, and began working as a primary school teacher.
In 1965 her world changed after meeting Malcolm McLaren, an art student at the time. He was free-spirited and daring, much of what Westwood sought to find in herself. She left Derek Westood in 1966 and fell into a relationship with McLaren; thus marking the beginning of her career in both fashion and activism.
McLaren, quite engaged in the student revolts of 1968, encouraged Westwood to use her fashion designs as a political protest, a theme which remained true to the end of her career.
She taught until 1971 before successfully making her leap into the art world.
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