Aged 81… Nicknames such as ‘destroyer of conformity’ and ‘queen of extremes’
Building a unique style with messages that resist and subvert mainstream culture
[AP 연합뉴스 자료사진. 재판매 및 DB 금지]
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Correspondent Im Mina = The British designer Vivienne Westwood, who ruled the fashion world for half a century as the ‘Queen of Punk’ and an icon of hard resistance culture, died on the 29th (local time) . Age of death 81 years old.
Westwood died peacefully at his home in south London on the same day surrounded by his family, Reuters and CNN reported, citing Westwood’s official statement.
During her lifetime, she was described by the media as the ‘priestess of punk’ and the ‘queen of the theatrical troupe’, and CNN assessed that she was loved to the end for breaking down the boundaries of the fashion industry and injecting vibrancy to him. .
He was born on April 8, 1941, in Glossop, Derbyshire, England, under the name ‘Vivian Isabelle Swire’, and started making his own clothes from an early age, under the influence of his parents who worked in a cotton mill and shoe factory. As a teenager, she moved north with her parents to London to attend art school, where she learned to make jewelery and silversmithing.
After divorcing her first husband and son, Westwood earned a living selling jewelery in Portobello, London, as a ‘single mother’. Then, in 1965, when she met and fell in love with Malcolm McLaren, an art student who later became the manager of the punk rock band Sex Pistols, Westwood’s life faced a major turning point.
[AFP 연합뉴스 자료사진. 재판매 및 DB 금지]
In the 1970s, Westwood and McLaren opened a shop called ‘Let it Rock’ (later changed to ‘Sex’) on King’s Road, London, and created a fashion brand with subversive messages and rebellion against mainstream culture and caused commotion Metal chains, zippers and partially torn chicken bones, and T-shirts printed with the image of the Queen of England with a large clothespin on her lips were particularly popular.
Westwood is credited with contributing to the creation of the visual grammar of the punk culture that existed at the time.
“There was no punk before me Malcolm,” he said in his memoir. “One more thing you need to know about punk is that it’s ‘total blast’.”
In 2014, she said, “The only reason I’m in fashion is to destroy the word ‘conformity’. Without that element, it’s not interesting to me at all.”
Westwood is also famous for expressing his social and political opinions without hesitation, and putting them into practice. He promoted nuclear disarmament and anti-war, and rebelled against policies that hurt the poor. At fashion shows, models were made to hold up signs with such messages.
Leading the environmental movement, he also emphasized “Choose (clothes) well. Buy less” for eco-friendly fashion.
According to Westwood’s spokesperson, the ‘Vivian Foundation’, a non-profit organization set up by the bereaved family, will officially launch next year. The foundation will “respect, protect and continue the legacy of Vivian’s life, design and activism,” the spokesperson said.
[AFP 연합뉴스 자료사진. 재판매 및 DB금지]
mina@yna.co.kr
Report via KakaoTalk okjebo
< 更多代 (c) 周年物利,
Unauthorized reproduction – redistribution prohibited >
2022/12/30 11:12 Sent
