Early years Westwood was born in
Hollingworth, Cheshire, on 8 April 1941. She grew up in nearby
Tintwistle, and was the daughter of Gordon Swire and Dora Swire (née Ball), who had married two years previously, two weeks after the outbreak of the
Second World War. At the time of Vivienne's birth, her father was employed as a storekeeper in an aircraft factory; he had previously worked as a greengrocer. but left after one term, saying: "I didn't know how a working-class girl like me could possibly make a living in the art world". After taking a job in a factory and studying at a teacher-training college, she became a primary-school teacher. During this period, she created her own jewellery, which she sold at a stall on
Portobello Road. They married on 21 July 1962; Westwood made her own wedding dress. Westwood continued to teach until 1971 and also created clothes which McLaren designed. McLaren became manager of the punk band the
Sex Pistols, and subsequently the two garnered attention as the band wore Westwood's and McLaren's designs.
Punk era Westwood was one of the architects of the
punk fashion phenomenon of the 1970s, saying "I was messianic about punk, seeing if one could put a spoke in the system in some way". Westwood's boutique, originally managed with McLaren, was a meeting place for early members of the London punk scene. The boutique regularly changed names and interior design through the 1970s to fit with collections and design inspirations. It remains in its original location at 430 Kings Road, Chelsea, London (under the name Worlds End since 1980, following a short period of closure in the 1980s) to this day. McLaren and Westwood were keen entrepreneurs, and their designs sold in their boutique – named
Let It Rock,
Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die,
Sex, and subsequently Seditionaries – helped to define and market the punk look at the exact moment that it exploded in popularity on the streets of London. Westwood's designs during the Punk Era and thereafter were informed by historicism; the V&A describing Westwood as "a meticulous researcher". Westwood began challenging gender norms and promoting experimentation in her designs, which at the outset were created in collaboration with McLaren. Initially, Westwood created garments referencing the dress of the 1950s Teddy Boys, which were worn by McLaren. Upon opening
Let It Rock in 1971, the first incarnation of Westwood and McLaren's boutique, early creations for the shop incorporated such influences reminiscent of the youth subculture fashions of the 1950s
. Inspired by the rebellious nature of the 1950s youth, Let It Rock referenced the clothing, music, and décor of the immediate postwar era. In 1972, Let It Rock was refashioned into
Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die, in homage to the death of James Dean. Though design references for garments retailed under Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die focussed on the rocker aesthetic of the 1960s, The new politically leaning design inspirations for Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die were conveyed through Westwood's sleeveless T-shirts, bearing various statements such as ‘PERV’ and ‘ROCK’, created using a combination of safety pins, chicken bones, and glitter glue. Two years later, in 1974, Westwood and McLaren's boutique was re-modelled, and reopened as
Sex. Pieces sold in Sex were intentionally abrasive and challenging, with designs grounded in fetish and sado-masochism, seeking to provoke a comfortable middle class and inspire young punks into political action by challenging the status quo. Garments retailed at Sex included skirts and dresses made from rubber as well as t-shirts with pornographic material printed on them. The clothes often had large intentional rips in them and sizeable zippers incorporated into the garments. Sex became a meeting point at the centre of the punk scene, and transformed into
Seditionaries in 1976. Clothing retailed at
Seditionaries (Seditionaries: Clothes for Heroes) retained the familiar references of Sex, including historicism, the challenging of gender norms, and fetish. However, Seditionaries pieces were made from different cloths and fibres. The development of Westwood signatures – bondage trousers covered with straps to restrict, ‘unravelling’ loose-knit jumpers made of mohair, and long-sleeved tops fashioned from soft muslins, which featured graphic screen printed designs and fastenings to the sleeves to give the effect of a straight-jacket – during this period quickly became archetypal punk staples. hand screen-printed cotton dress and sash,
Pirate collection, 1981. Museum of Art Rhode Island
,Design, tl 2008-2. Westwood was disenchanted with the direction that adoptees had taken punk in, many of them uninterested in punk's political values, viewing the style of the movement as a marketing opportunity instead of a medium for radical change; with the dissolution of the Sex Pistols, Westwood's inspiration for her eponymous line shifted instead to the 18th century.
Fashion collections Westwood's designs were independent and represented a statement of her own values. She collaborated on occasion with Gary Ness, who assisted Westwood with inspirations and titles for her collections. McLaren and Westwood's first fashion collection to be shown to the media and potential international buyers was
Pirate, combining 18th and 19th century dress, British history and textiles with African prints. This was the first time in which Westwood explored her inspiration of historic sources in current day couture, the
Pirate runway had featured both rap and an array of ethnic music. After the partnership with McLaren was dissolved, Westwood showed one more collection under the Worlds End label:
Clint Eastwood (late 1984–early 1985). She dubbed the period 1981–85 "New Romantic" (during which time she created the famous look of the band
Adam and the Ants) and 1988–91 as "The Pagan Years" during which "Vivienne's heroes changed from punks and ragamuffins to
Tatler girls wearing clothes that parodied the upper class". From 1985 to 1987, Westwood took inspiration from the ballet
Petrushka to design the mini-crini, an abbreviated version of the Victorian
crinoline. Its
mini-length, bouffant silhouette inspired the puffball skirts widely presented by more established designers such as
Christian Lacroix. The mini-crini was described in 1989 as a combination of two conflicting ideals – the crinoline, representing a "mythology of restriction and encumbrance in woman's dress", and the miniskirt, representing an "equally dubious mythology of liberation". Westwood continued her research in fashion history by studying garments found in museum collections, which are evident through her incorporations of neck ruffs, corsets, bustles, breeches, and paniers in her various collections. In 2007, Westwood was approached by the Chair of
King's College London,
Patricia Rawlings, to design an academic gown for the college after it had successfully petitioned the
Privy Council for the right to award degrees. In 2008, the Westwood-designed academic dresses for King's College were unveiled. On the gowns, Westwood commented: "Through my reworking of the traditional robe I tried to link the past, the present and the future. We are what we know." Westwood worked closely with
Richard Branson to design uniforms for the
Virgin Atlantic crew. The uniform for the female crew consisted of a red suit, which accentuated the women's curves and hips, and had strategically placed
darts around the bust area. The men's uniform consisted of a grey and burgundy
three-piece suit with details on the
lapels and pockets. Westwood and Branson were both passionate about using sustainable materials throughout their designs to reduce the impact on the environment and so used recycled
polyester. ==Vivienne Westwood companies==