Designer Crochet: Vivienne Westwood

Last week for the Designer Crochet Project we explored the work of Valentino Garavani. This week we’ll look at fashion designer Vivienne Westwood.

About Fashion Designer Vivienne Westwood

I adore Vivienne Westwood’s clothing as well as her influence on the punk style. Let’s learn more about the designer, starting with the info in Simone Werle’s book 50 Fashion Designers You Should Know. We learn that she was born in England in 1941 and started out as an elementary school teacher before becoming a fashion designer. In 1970 she opened a clothing boutique (ultimately named Worlds End although with many name changes) with eventual Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McKnight. It became a haven for the anti-hippie subculture of the era. She worked in the boutique, creating her own style of punk clothing mostly by upcycling existing items. As her work continued she began to get influence from a variety of sources ranging from local prostitutes to historical costumes and eventually, in 1981, she presented her first London fashion collection called Pirate. In 1992 she got attention for operate costume design, in 1998 she launched a fragrance and in 1999 she opened her first US flagship store in New York. She has collaborated with Wolford and Nine West, had retrospectives of her work, won awards and had her designs worn by royalty and celebrities (including Gwen Stefani in the music video for the song Spiderwebs). She has two sons, one who is an erotic photographer and the other who founded erotic fahsion line Agent Provacateur.