Fashion guru Vivienne Westwood has died at the age of 81

Vivienne Westwood poses defiantly.  Image from the documentary Westwood (2018).
Vivienne Westwood poses on the catwalk. Image from the documentary Westwood (2018).

Westwood was a pioneer of punk fashion, which became known for erotic leather and rubber outfits and bondage styles.

Considered one of the icons of the fashion world, Westwood was 81 years old when he died. On the Twitter account of the brand that bears his name, it was said that Westwood died peacefully surrounded by his family.

– In order to change for the better, the world needs more people like Vivienne, the Twitter post said.

Westwood was a pioneer of punk fashion, which became known for erotic leather and rubber outfits and bondage styles. At first, his creations provoked the conservative British. Traditional English craftsmanship with fabrics, for example tartan, inspired him. Crinolines, tourniquets and corsets recur in many of Westwood’s suits.

The political activism of the rebel of the fashion world was especially emphasized towards the end of his life. Westwood spoke publicly against arbitrary arrests and nuclear weapons and supported environmental movements and, for example, the environmental organization Greenpeace.