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Westwood Knowledge Beginnings | Daycare, Preschool & Early Education in Westwood, MA

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Westwood Knowledge Beginnings

Welcome to Westwood Knowledge Beginnings

Welcome to Westwood Knowledge Beginnings! We are located between Norwood and Dedham, MA, near Route 1. Our center has been proudly serving families and children since 1999. Our center provides a loving, safe, and structured learning environment for all students. Our highly recognized curriculum is designed using the latest research in early childhood education. We build a warm and welcoming environment for all students regardless of their abilities, backgrounds, and experiences.

Westwood Knowledge Beginnings Programs
Our Teachers
Family Stories
FAQs

AMERICA’S MOST ACCREDITED

We’re so proud!

Nationally only 10% of daycares are accredited – nearly 100% of our learning centers are. That’s a big difference,
and that means KinderCare kids are getting the very best. Here’s why.

SCHOOL-READY

What Learning Looks Like

Our talented early-childhood teachers set kids down the path toward becoming lifelong learners in a positive, safe, and nurturing environment.

Westwood Knowledge Beginnings Programs

Infant Programs (6 weeks–1 year)

Leaving your baby in someone else’s care is a big step. Everyone at our
centers—most importantly, our naturally gifted infant teachers—will work with
you to make sure the transition goes smoothly. When you step into our infant
classroom, you’ll see how much we want your infant to feel safe, loved, and
ready to explore their world.

Toddler Programs (1–2 Years)

Everything in our toddler classroom is designed for little explorers. That’s
because a lot is going on at this age. When your child is wandering all over the
place, that means they’re learning and discovering new things every day. We’ll
help them explore their interests (and find new ones!) as they play and learn.

Preschool Programs (3–4 Years)

This age is all about expression, when kids really start to form their own ideas
about what they want to play and how they want to create. Every day in our
preschool classroom, your child will explore science experiments, create
artwork, and play pretend—all the skills needed for their big next step:
kindergarten!

Prekindergarten Programs (4–5 Years)

When you walk into one of our pre-K classrooms, you’ll see artwork and
writing displayed around the room. Labels are everywhere to help kids connect
letters with words. You’ll also see pictures on the walls that reflect the families
in our community. Your child will also deepen their knowledge in language,
math, science, Spanish, and social skills.

Participating Child Care Aware Center

KinderCare partners with Child Care Aware® of America to offer fee assistance for
Active Duty military families and flexible support to fit their needs when care at a Child
Development Center on the installation is not available.

Learning Adventures – Enrichment Program

Cooking Academy™ (3 – 12 Years)

In Cooking Academy, kids learn new recipes from cultures around the world and
develop a healthy relationship with food. They’ll whip up everything from Southwest
rainbow lettuce wraps to pumpkin muffins, building their skills in STEM, communication,
and more along the way. And yes—little chefs get to eat their culinary creations!

Music Explorers™ (2 – 4 Years)

KinderCare families are already giving a standing ovation to our newest Learning
Adventures program: Music Explorers! Kids will learn to sing, move, listen, play
instruments, and even create their own tunes. Our original curriculum blends math,
science, social studies, literacy, and mindfulness (think yoga!) for a uniquely KinderCare
way of learning the foundations of music.

Phonics Adventures® (2 – 4 Years)

Learning how to read is a whole lot of fun at KinderCare! We help kids grow to love
books and words (and get ready for kindergarten) in our Phonics Adventures program.
From discovering the basics of vowels to practicing poetry, kids learn all about letters
and sounds in small-group lessons made just for their age group. (Bonus: Kids who
attend our phonics program are more prepared than their peers for school—and we
have the data to prove it.)

STEM Innovators (3-8 Years)

You’ve probably heard a lot about how important STEM education is for your child, but
what does that really mean? Our STEM Innovators program takes kids’ natural ability to
make sense of the world and applies it to robotics, chemistry, coding, geology, and
more. While your child experiments, they’ll discover how to use technology to do
amazing things!

Our Teachers

We’re the only company in early childhood education to select teachers based on natural talent. Being a great educator isn’t enough though.
KinderCare teachers are also amazing listeners, nurturers, boo-boo fixers, and smile-makers. Put more simply,
we love our teachers and your child will, too.

Meet just a few of our amazing KinderCare teachers!

A KINDERCARE TEACHER WITH

An Artist’s Heart

“My classroom is full of art!” says Mary Annthipie-Bane, an award-winning early childhood educator at KinderCare. Art and creative expression, she says, help children discover who they really are.

We put our best-in-class teachers in a best-in-class workplace. We’re so proud to have been named one of Gallup’s 37 winners of the Great Workplace Award.
When you put great teachers in an engaging center, your children will experience
an amazing place to learn and grow.

Family Stories

Don’t take our word for it. Hear what our families have to say about our amazing center!

“

I have had two kids (one has “graduated”) go through Knowledge Beginnings. My oldest is now thriving in Kindergarten thanks to the great foundational learning she received, and my youngest has been there since she was a newborn. She loves her teachers! I would recommend the school to anyone!

”

Jen M. – KinderCare Parent
“

Our two children have been part of the Knowledge Beginnings family for the past four years. During that time, they’ve had the opportunity to experience each classroom, from Infants all the way through to the Prekindergarten class. The staff is fantastic and offers just the right mix of love, caring, discipline and FUN! When I enter the center, I always find my children laughing and enjoying themselves, their friends and their teachers and the teachers always look happy to be there too. Knowledge Beginnings has been an extension of our family for quite a while and my husband and I feel very strongly that we made a great decision in partnering with them.

”

Heather and Charlie – KinderCare Parent
“

We love Knowledge Beginnings! When struggling with the decision to go back to work after having a child, the staff at Knowledge Beginnings made me feel confident that my child was being cared for and loved just as much as she would be at home.

”

Meg – KinderCare Parent
“

I have two children, ages 4. 5 and 16 months, who have both attended the Westwood Knowledge Beginnings since they were 3 months old. It has been a great experience for them overall. Our girls have thrived in that environment, much due to the nurturing staff and just the right balance of academic focus and self-directed play. Our eldest child is quite prepared for kindergarten at this point but still has another year before she starts in public school!

The staff is quite experienced, many of them having worked at the center for 5+ years and who also bring their own children to the location. Maryellen and Stacey, the Director and Associate Director respectively, are attentive to the needs of the children and their families while continuously guiding the staff toward excellence; recently demonstrated through achieving National accreditation.

Some perceived drawbacks to this center might be: the location – Rt 1 can be quite busy and the parking lot is not huge, but the location was quite convenient for us and we’ve rarely had a problem with parking. Snacks are provided but lunches are not included in the cost of tuition- this suits our picky eaters! And the center has recently partnered with a company called Smart Lunches to provide meals for purchase.

We absolutely recommend this center to families seeking a caring place where their children will blossom and grow.

”

Darcy R. – KinderCare Parent

Share Your Story

If you have a story about your experience at KinderCare,

please share your story with us
.

Who Are KinderCare Families?

They hail from hundreds of cities across the country from countless backgrounds, and proudly represent every walk in life. What our families have in common,
though, is the want to give their children the best start in life. We are so proud to be their partner in parenting.

Hear from just a few of our amazing KinderCare families.

A Globe-Trotting Family Finds A

Home in Houston

Four young children, four different passports, two languages, two full-time jobs…oh, and a few triathlons thrown in for good measure.
Meet the globe-trotting Colettas—a family on the go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What accreditations does KinderCare have?

We are your trusted caregiver. Our centers are state-licensed and regularly inspected to make sure everything meets or exceeds standards, including child-to-teacher ratios and safe facilities. Our centers aren’t just licensed—most are accredited, too! Find out more.

Do you offer part-time schedules at Westwood Knowledge Beginnings?

Everybody’s schedule is different. We’re happy to offer quality, affordable part-time and full-time childcare. Drop-in care may also be available. Reach out to your Center Director to learn more.

How does naptime work at Westwood Knowledge Beginnings?

Our teachers meet every child’s needs during naptime. Our teachers know how to get babies to nap. In fact, they are pros at getting children of any age to nap. Visit our article on “10 Ways We Help Kids Get a Great Daycare Nap” to learn more.

Do you support alternative diets?

We strive to be as inclusive as possible. To that point, we provide a vegetarian option at mealtime, take care to not serve common allergens and can adapt menus based on your child’s food sensitivities. If your child has additional needs, we’ll work with you to figure out a plan.

Are meals included in tuition? Can I choose to send my child with lunch?

We provide nutritious meals and snacks developed by a registered dietician to meet the needs of rapidly growing bodies and minds. If your child has special dietary requirements and you would prefer to bring in their lunch, please make arrangements with the center director.

Does my child need to be potty-trained?

Every child begins toilet learning at a different age. Until your child shows an interest in toilet learning, we’ll provide diaper changes on an as-needed basis. When your child shows an interest, we’ll discuss how to work together to encourage toilet learning.

Site Director, Westwood, New Jersey

This job has expired

Location: Westwood, New Jersey
Job Type: Permanent
Posted: 22 Aug 2022

KinderCare Education is the nation’s leader in early childhood education. We nourish curiosity through purposeful experiences to create a future full of lifelong learners. From our National Support Center to the classrooms where learning comes to life, we’re united by a passion for creating a world of learning, joy, and adventure for more than 161,000 children ages six weeks through 12 years every day.

If you’re passionate about inspiring children and teachers alike to learn and grow, the Site Director role could be for you! Site Directors are passionate about educational excellence and empowering confident teachers. As a Site Director, you will use our nationally recognized curriculum as a framework to create unique and engaging classroom experiences. Site Directors are committed to making their site successful and know that meaningful relationships with children, families, and their team are essential to success. Successful Site Directors are fully engaged, enthusiastic about their work, and eager to share their knowledge with others.

When you join our team as a Site Director, you will:

Lead and supervise a group of teachers to create unique and engaging classroom experiences, leverage and develop best in class educators to be passionate and committed professionals
Ensure your site is operating effectively; maintain licensing, safety, and educational standards
Partner with parents with a shared desire to provide the best care and education for their children
Cultivate positive relationships with families, teachers, school and district leaders, state licensing authorities, community contacts, and corporate partners
Lead recruitment and enrollment efforts of new families and children in our sites

Qualifications:

Monday though Friday

7:00-9:00 AM and 2:30-6:30 PM Plus Admin Hours

Total Hours a Week: Approximately 35

Required Skills and Experience:

At least one year of teaching experience with the ability to develop, engage, and inspire a team
A love for children and a strong desire to make a difference every day
Ability to build relationships with families and staff and create a dynamic environment where play and discovery go hand-in-hand
Outstanding customer service skills, strong organizational skills, and the ability to multi-task and manage multiple situations effectively.
Must meet state specific guidelines for the role
Must be physically able to use a computer with basic proficiency, lift a minimum of 40 pounds, and work indoors or outdoors. Must be able to assume postures in low levels to allow physical and visual contact with children, see and hear well enough to keep children safe, and engage in physical activity.
Ability to speak, read, and write English.

Our highest priority has always been to keep our employees, children, families, and communities as safe and healthy as possible. Starting October 18, 2021, we began requiring COVID vaccinations or weekly COVID testing for all unvaccinated employees. We are also subject to state law, local ordinances, and Health Department requirements for child care workers or school staff.

The benefits our career professionals enjoy:

In addition to a rewarding career where you help shape children’s futures, KinderCare Education provides a competitive compensation package. Benefits include:

Medical, dental, and vision
Discounted child care
Generous paid time off
Education assistance and reimbursement
Medical expense reimbursement/ Life insurance/Disability benefits/ Health and wellness programs
401(k) savings and investment plan with employer match

KinderCare Education employs more than 32,000 team members across 1,700 locations nationwide. Our devoted family of education providers leads the nation in accreditation and includes KinderCare® Learning Centers, KinderCare Education at Work®, Champions® Before- and After-School Programs, Cambridge Schools , Knowledge Beginnings®, and The Grove School®.

KinderCare Education is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, military or veteran status, gender identity or expression, or any other basis protected by local, state, or federal law.

Primary Location : Westwood, New Jersey, United States

Job : Teacher and Center Staff

Details

Job Reference: 692311100-2

Date Posted: 22 August 2022

Recruiter: KinderCare Education

Location: Westwood, New Jersey

Salary: On Application

Sector: Administration

Job Type: Permanent

Lee Hutchinson | Ars Technica

Senior Technology Editor

Lee is the Senior Technology Editor, and oversees story development for the gadget, automotive, IT, and video sections of Ars Technica. A long-time member of the Ars OpenForum, Lee has an extensive background in enterprise storage and security, having spent nearly a decade at The Boeing Company as an enterprise architect before departing to work at EMC and then later Symantec. Lee also writes the occasional long-form piece on manned space flight or gaming. He lives in Houston and spends far too much money on obscure single-malt scotches. In what free time he has, Lee produces an Elite: Dangerous webcomic called Fangs.

Vivienne Westwood. British Fashion Grandmother

#Persona

Vivienne Westwood is one of the rare designers who create fashion in the true sense – not meticulously neat, predictably boring, to the point of vulgarity artless dresses and suits, but completely unexpected ensembles filled with the romanticism of historicism and the aesthetics of chaos, the dynamic cut of which makes such an impression, as if they were sewn by a drunk tailor.

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Male role

A cutting method that creates the effect of incredible dynamics, as if you are in motion, although you have not yet begun to move, invented by Andreas Kronthaler, designer, third husband of Vivienne Westwood. It’s amazing how lucky some lucky women are with their spouses! Her previous husband, Malcolm McLaren, came up with the philosophy of Vivienne Westwood’s business, which turned from a marginal brand of avant-garde clothing into a world-famous British fashion house. McLaren played a pivotal role in Vivienne Westwood’s career. Before meeting him, she was an ordinary primary school teacher, driving primitive knowledge and cliches into the heads of children, a respectable wife and mother, for whom the limit of self-realization is home and family. However, in the late 60s, Vivien met Malcolm McLaren, an art student, a brawler who was known to almost all the policemen in London.

Inspirer

In 1968, McLaren was in Paris, a city that at that time was the center of the spiritual quest of progressive European youth. McLaren got acquainted with the works of contemporary situationist philosophers, among whom was Guy Debord, who opposed the consumer society. The Situationists directed their critique against art as a commodity. Returning to London, inspired by fresh ideas, McLaren decided to act in two directions – fashion and music. Together with his new girlfriend Vivienne, who admired his ebullient free life and original thinking, at 19In 71, he opened the most incredible store in London. A couple of years later, he organized the Sex Pistols group, which played punk rock, which implied not so much skill as the desire to play.

Vivien’s first boutique

The store changed names constantly. First there was a sign over the entrance saying “In the Backyard of Heaven’s Garage”, then “Let There Be Rock”, then “Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die”, which was replaced by the cheeky “Sex”. McLaren and Westwood realized that peace-loving hippies, cute colorful clothes, passing cars, drugs, Eastern teachings, rock are yesterday. They caught a fresh trend in the field of subcultures and created a punk fashion. Having common ideals – unlimited freedom, extreme individualism, anti-capitalism – hippies and punks chose completely different ways to achieve them. Hippies are love, kindness, wisdom, harmony, punks are sex, aggression, superficiality, chaos. Outwardly, punks were very different from their predecessors. They borrowed leather jackets from beatniks and mutilated classic jeans with holes and scuffs. The rest of the elements of style they invented, guided by the principle of provocative deconstructivism.

Birth of style

Vivien was the first to make herself an extreme bob cut out of bleached hair – a ladies’ version of mohawks. She was also the first to make fun of clothes, turning them into rags. The store sold shirts with a swastika on the sleeves, T-shirts and T-shirts with obscene inscriptions, torn tights, leather jackets with rivets and spikes, brutal belts and safety pins. These clothes were similar to those worn by prostitutes, the dregs of society, individuals with deviant behavior. But because punk was trendy, the store enjoyed unprecedented popularity. Her most scandalous work at the dawn of her career is a T-shirt with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II of England with a safety pin in her lip. The monarchical theme would later become key to Westwood’s work. “London would be terrible without the queen. If you imagine all these politicians without her, all this would be so boring without such context as, for example, royal flags. I think it’s all charming. Even Buckingham Palace,” says Westwood. Subsequently, she will be carried away by historical costume and will be true to the principle of the situationists to look for inspiration in old things. “I discovered the past,” admits Westwood, “I suddenly realized that there is an inexhaustible source of ideas. Take, for example, Dior. His best collections are allusions to the Elizabethan era! When I re-read The Three Musketeers, I got the idea for the Pirates collection. There, for example, there was a model of “shapeless” pants, which I still like. It looked like these pants had been worn for a century: pockets pulled back, baggy bottoms, and so on. I saw something similar on one of the old engravings and transferred it to our time.

Fat queens with tattoos

By the 1980s, the Sex Pistols broke up, and Vivienne Westwood lost interest first in her husband because he was “too superficial”, and then in the punk style. However, she became fascinated with the history of costume and discovered subtle threads that connected the main passion of her youth with what she was to do later. In 1981, Vivien began presenting her collections at London Fashion Week, and since 1983 at Paris Fashion Week. Her first collections made popular the “rags and holes” style. Subsequently, she created clothes that parodied classical luxury. At 19In 87, the fashion designer presented a collection with parodies of royal robes and a Scottish costume. Disheveled plump women with tattoos on their shoulders and smeared make-up showed off clothes – in corset bodices, plaid miniskirts and shoes on a wooden platform. Vivienne Westwood brought into fashion clothes with external seams, mini-crinolines and linen style. One of Westwood’s sons became a follower of her fashion – he created the world-famous lingerie brand Agent Provocateur. The fashion designer herself says about her clothes like this: “It allows you to design your personality, it is a bit theatrical and gives you a chance to express yourself. She disposes to herself, she kind of invites people to come up to you, talk, get to know each other. The bonus is also that you automatically protect yourself from the attention of conservative personalities – such people simply will not suit you. In her seventies, Vivienne Westwood is full of energy and devoid of prejudice. She posed completely naked for anti-glamor photographer Juergen Teller to show everyone that age is in fashion! In these realistic photos, she looks even more charismatic, sexy, strong and free than in her youth.

4 facts about Vivienne Westwood

– Vivienne Westwood attracts only great originals. Richard Branson liked her style of tailoring so much that he asked the British fashion legend to make uniforms for Virgin Atlantic flight attendants.

– Westwood’s activity extends beyond fashion – she creates ironic, slightly avant-garde interior concepts like tablecloths, pillows and wallpaper.

– One day, Westwood said goodbye to her luxurious radiant red hair and shaved baldly in order to draw public attention to the problems of climate change. The designer urges to buy only the necessary things, and invest in the conservation of nature.

– Vivienne Westwood describes her artistic tastes as follows: “My favorite artists are Titian, Velazquez and Vermeer. I also love Dutch painting of the 17th century. But there are also three geniuses of the 18th century: Boucher, Watteau and Fragonard. Their pictures will open the whole world for you. It’s an absolute delight.”

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Author:
Christina Fadina

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Vivienne Westwood and Leopard Heels: Theresa May Style Rules

July 12, 2016

Forbes Woman

Olga Proskurnina

Author
Anna Kasyan

Author

After Brexit and the scandalous resignation of David Cameron, a woman whose biography resembles the story of Angela Merkel becomes the British Prime Minister. There is only one essential difference between them, but it is very bright

Former British Home Secretary Theresa May took over the premier’s office at 10 Downing Street today. Before her, only one woman has been Prime Minister – the legendary Margaret Thatcher. However, the British press compares May not only with Thatcher, but also with the Federal Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel. Both female leaders grew up in the families of Protestant priests, both are completely immersed in work, have no children, love to walk in the mountains and are considered more boring than they really are. However, Theresa May’s personal style overshadows not only Merkel (which is easily achievable), but many heroines of fashion blogs and magazines.

Photo PA Wire·Press Association Images·TASS

The new Prime Minister was born on 1 October 1956 to Hubert Brazier, vicar of Whittle, near Oxford. In an interview with Telrgraph four years ago, she said that she had dreamed of entering politics since she was 12 years old. Thérèse Marie Brazier studied at prestigious private schools, where she was considered a smartass and a good girl, and graduated from the University of Oxford, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in geography in 1977. She began her career at the Bank of England, and from 1985 to 1997 worked in the Association of Payment and Clearing Services. She then won the parliamentary elections for the Conservative Party and began to rise along the party line. Prior to the Conservative victory in the 2010 election, she held high positions in the shadow cabinet.

Photo Photo FA Bobo·PIXSELL·PA Images·TASS

In 2002, Theresa May became famous for her fiery speech at the party conference. Persuading her party members that the Tories should change and get closer to the voters, she said: “You know what people call us – the party of freaks.” Judging by the fact that the Conservatives, led by David Cameron, defeated Labor in 2010, the call was heard after all. In May 2010, May was appointed Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equality. She became the fourth woman in the country’s history (including after Margaret Thatcher) to head a ministry in the British government.

Photo by REUTERS·Suzanne Plunkett

British journalists compare May not only with Thatcher and Merkel, but also with former British Labor Prime Minister Gordon Brown (from 2007 to 2010). He, like Mei, came from a family of a priest, at the age of 12 he became interested in politics and had such significant authority in his party that he was able to lead it without a fight. Popularity among conservatives allowed May to win the fight for the post of prime minister. Actually, there was no fight: the former mayor of London, Boris Johnson, refused to claim the post of prime minister, and Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom announced her self-rejection, since her rival’s position in the party is too strong.

Photo FA Bobo PIXSELL PA Images TASS

May’s former classmate at Oxford told the Telegraph in 2012 that during the tumultuous 1970s she was exceptionally well behaved, without engaging in any student frenzy. But with her way of dressing (and especially her shoes), she has attracted the attention of the British press since she entered public politics. There is a well-known picture of 2004, in which Mei, lying on a bench, shows her next extravagant shoes with glass heels to a crowd of photographers.

Photo FA Bobo PIXSELL PA Images TASS

In 1980 Teresa married investment banker Philip May. They met in Oxford, at a disco party of the future Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, and then became close because of their passion for cricket. The prime minister’s husband works as a client manager for Capital International Group. After Theresa May’s nomination for prime minister, Capital International issued a statement that the decision would not affect the company’s investment decisions and that Philip May was not involved in financial management.

The Mays don’t have children – in 2012, in an interview with the Telegraph, Teresa, answering a question about this, said that this was how life happened. In the 36th year of marriage, the spouses live in love and harmony; a family friend told the Telegraph that Philip adores Teresa and is even in awe of her.

Photo by Daniel Leal-Olivas i-Images via ZUMA Wire TASS

One of Theresa May’s favorite designers is Vivienne Westwood. From shoes, she prefers ballet flats, loafers and pumps with leopard prints. Favorite brand of bags is L.K. Bennet: she came to the first meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers with just such a bag, which fits a lot of documents.

Photo by REUTERS Stefan Wermuth

Another hallmark of Theresa May’s style is bright colors. Last week, when it was announced that she remained one of two candidates for the premiership, she went to the press in a fuchsia dress and ballerinas with kiss prints.

Photo by PA Wire Press Association Images TASS

Theresa May doesn’t like to shop online – she likes to go to the market with a wheeled cart herself. She also likes to buy cookbooks, but not super-accurate, like the once popular Delia Smith in England: she prefers the free style of Jamie Oliver.

Photo by Vickie Flores London News Pictures via ZUMA Wire TASS

performed by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons

Pange Lingua Gloriosi Corporis Mysterium (hymn written by Thomas Aquinas performed by Capella Gregoriana)

Edward Elgar Cello Concerto in E Minor

Dancing Queen (ABBA hit)

Rondo from Henry Purcell’s suite “Abdelazar, or the Revenge of the Moor”

Aria of the Queen of the Night from Mozart’s “Magic Flute”

Olga Proskurnina

Author
Anna Kasyan

Author

#brexit
#Great Britain
#Theresa May

Forbes Newsletter

Funding, Investing, Business & Technology Essentials

collections, style, role in modern fashion.

Interview Vivienne Westwood Matt Callard

Text:
Cordula Reier, translated by Sascha Glüwein

In an interview with the German Welt am Sonntag, fashion designer Andreas Kronthaler confessed his love for fashion to his wife, who is a quarter of a century older than him, and spoke about the beginning of a relationship that has lasted for 18 years.

About fashion:
“As a teenager, I discovered Armani in one of the boutiques in Rimini. It was something special – chic, elegance, minimalism… it’s not for nothing that Italians talk about Armani as a god. Since then, I have understood the difference between clothes and fashion.”

What things are for:
“Clothes serve us as a support in life and help us no worse than medicine.”

About the first meeting with his future wife:
“Vivienne was my professor… When she entered the classroom, she was wearing tight overalls with a belt around her hips and wooden shoes that clattered “so-so,” Vivien held a magnifying glass in her hands. She began to speak – it seemed to me that a new universe was born.

About the beginning of the novel:
“She liked that I could fantasize and think big. She took the first step. She felt good with me – all of a sudden it turned out that we were always together … We went to eat together, to the theater, to exhibitions. From her I learned a lot about the history of fashion in the Middle Ages and infected her with a passion for fashion in the 20th century. We started to complement each other. She bewitched me. She is not afraid of anyone or anything. Vivien can stay one or two weeks and still be silent – this is normal for her. On the contrary, I’m afraid of everything.”

About marriage:
“I believe that marriage is the source of energy for love. Vivien and I share everything – and thus the good becomes two more. I can’t and don’t want to live without her.”

About the delights of family life:
“We spend 24 hours a day together! We ride bicycles to the studio to work. Then we also return home. I am in charge of many things and she is always ready to help me. If you need to make some important decision, I discuss it with Vivienne and after the discussion I know what to do. The word “trust” may sound trite, but in reality it is something special when you suddenly realize that you can trust someone.”

About working together:
“Vivienne is very collected, but I, on the contrary, often jump from fifth to tenth. She is much more experienced and cooler, and I am impressed that my opinion is so important to her … I don’t like and I don’t know how to explain my actions, in order to understand what and how I do, you just need to watch me. Vivienne, on the contrary, is very sociable. She always knows exactly what she wants. I never know this and I am ready to try a lot of options.

How to blow off steam:
“I am very impatient, but in recent years I am improving because I do yoga a lot.”

Her collections are studied at the Universities of Fashion, clothes from flaunt on covers and glossy pages, but her personality is no less interesting. And it seems that having learned a little more about her, we understand that there is nothing easier and nothing more attractive than being yourself. How to remain modern, active, in demand at the age of 70? Vivien’s secrets are quite simple.

The simplest secrets of beauty and youth

We don’t have to study rare luxury cosmetics and trendy spa names. You will be surprised, but her recipes are accessible and even banal.

First, 15 minutes every morning.

Secondly, her favorite walks around the city. Vivienne Westwood does not care about age! Throwing back the “show-offs”, she sits on her bike and travels around London. She can often be found doing this with her husband and creative producer Andreas Kronthaler. They calmly cross the British capital on bicycles up and down.

Vivien and Andreas. Photo: www.guardian.co.uk

And Vivienne considers the recipe for a good marriage a quality that is abundant in her – tolerance. “And don’t expect anything from a partner!” Westwood insists on his secret to a happy relationship.

Another of Vivien’s recipes for youth – she believes in simple pleasures. For example, did you know that Vivienne Westwood loves to cook? The signature dish is Beef Wellington. She always cooks it herself, and loves to treat guests with her creation. He also loves to read. Only not magazines and newspapers, but books. Favorite book is À La Recherche du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust.

Vivien does not watch TV and rarely goes to the cinema, although she does not miss the most important films. Most recently, she highly appreciated the painting “The King’s Speech”. Vivien told reporters that she was fascinated by the film’s beautiful simplicity.

Vivienne’s most important recipe for skin is “no sun at all”. – her point.

After long trips or parties, she definitely arranges a juice diet for herself.

Friends, they are idols

Many people are friends with Vivien. Surprisingly, she has both her peers and very young colleagues in her friends. One of her friends is model Kate Moss. Vivienne knows how to be friends, she will never belittle the one with whom she is next to, she will never remind of her merits. For example, when Vivienne Westwood was asked if she could design a future wedding dress for Kate Moss, the fashion designer replied that Kate is a very gifted girl and could make a dress for herself. After these words, Kate Moss, inspired by the high appreciation of her friend, really thought about her own dress design, although she later changed her mind.

Vivienne’s characters are women with a very controversial reputation. But noticeable and different. For example, Vivienne at one time admired the beauty of Pamela Anderson. And now her ideal of beauty is Christina Hendricks. She became the face of Vivienne Westwood this year. Christina Hendricks will present a jewelry collection from the British designer called “Get a Life”, created from the sustainable metal palladium. In 2010, the actress Hendrix was recognized as the sexiest woman in the world according to the men’s magazine Esquire, and also received the prestigious award of the American television people for her role in the TV series Mad Men. In promotional photos for Vivienne Westwood, Christina shows jewelry, hair accessories and other items from the brand’s jewelry collection.

Another woman that Vivien adores is Jane Fonda. “I really love to dress her,” says Vivien. From men, idols and friends, the fashion designer highlights the style and appearance of George Clooney, and is also grateful to Robert Redford for making the world a better place. Vivien herself and her creations are also loved by many. None of her shows miss Dita von Teese, always in the forefront of the audience Kate Moss. Vivien admires her friends, always puts them on a pedestal.

Behind the scenes of the shows

Surprisingly, Vivien herself rarely watches her shows. She just comes out at the end of the defile to bow, but rarely controls everything that happens behind the scenes, leaving it at the mercy of makeup artists, stylists, directors. It is difficult for her to talk about her achievements and successes. They are probably still ahead. Although the last show of Fall-2011 made Vivienne really proud. She really liked the collection, and makeup, and the action itself. Critics said that the models at that show looked like horses. And Vivien is proud of such a comparison.

Collection Fall-2011

What dreams

Surprisingly, Vivien, this outrageous, extraordinary and unlike any other woman, inside is almost the same as most of us. She really finds joy in simple things. She dreams of an apartment in Paris, although she is forced to live in London for the time being, on Oxford Street. He likes to go to the Royal Academy and look at the drawings of Jean-Antoine Watteau. And the best of the moments of life calls the evening spent in the Japanese theater Noh. And he really wants to repeat that action. She assures that if someone offers her to spend the rest of her life in this Japanese theater, she will answer “Yes!”.

Photo: Associated Press

Study

When Vivienne Isabel Swire was 17, she and her family moved to London from Glossop in Derbyshire. There, the girl received a pedagogical education at Trent Park College and studied for one semester at the Harrow Art School. During her studies, Vivien created a collection of jewelry that was sold out at a local kiosk. The future outrageous designer, the “queen of scandal”, worked for several years as a primary school teacher.

Family

In 1962, Vivienne Isabelle Swire married dance hall owner Derek Westwood. The girl sewed the wedding dress herself. Derek’s business soon went bankrupt, which caused poverty and constant scandals. Three years after the wedding, the family broke up. From her first husband, Vivienne has two children: a daughter, Rose, and a son, Benjamin. After the divorce, she left her husband’s surname, under which she later became famous.

Fatal acquaintance

In the late 1960s, future designer Vivienne Westwood met art school student Malcolm McLaren, the future punk inspiration and producer of the infamous Sex Pistols. She lived with him for 13 years in a civil marriage, in 1967 having given birth to a son, Joseph.

70s. Outrageous start and creation of a new style

Starting a business and punk style

Thanks to Malcolm McLaren, Vivienne Westwood became interested in design, and at 19At 71, she took up modeling clothes. They opened Let It Rock on King’s Road in Chelsea, selling music CDs and clothes in the resurgent ’50s Teddy Boy style.
Renamed “Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die” in 1973 and “Sex” in 1974.

“We rebelled against what we imposed on our generation. In protest, we searched for ourselves, formed our vision of the world”

The change in name was not accidental: Vivienne and Malcolm felt the end of an era was approaching and began selling clothes in style. The emblem of “Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die” was a pirate flag. Vivienne Westwood by that time had made a new hairstyle – a short crew cut on peroxide-bleached hair. The boutique has become an expression of the punk and porno-chic styles developed by the couple:
forbidden music played in it, the walls were decorated with pictures from porno magazines and indecent inscriptions, and paraphernalia of sex shops served
.

Malcolm became the ideologue of the direction, who developed its content, aesthetics and music together with his comrades, Vivien came up with a new style, and their store became the center of the London punk party. Punk style involved the use of unusual elements in clothing (for example, collars and chains as jewelry) with traditional elements (plaid fabrics, etc.).

Clothes for Sex Pistols

In 1976, Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren co-designed for the first time clothing for the Sex Pistols, the iconic punk worldview and lifestyle.
Subsequently, the designer created several hundred stage costumes for them, which popularized the punk style.

In 1977, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated the 25th anniversary of her accession to the throne. The Sex Pistols group released the single “God Save The Queen” as a congratulation, on the cover of which a photograph of a royal person was placed with the inscription “God Save the Queen” instead of eyes and the name of the group instead of lips.

Vivienne Westwood continued the theme and released T-shirts with a portrait of Elizabeth, on which her mouth was pierced with a safety pin. The outrageous and daring act of the musicians and the designer shocked the conservative English society, but made them even more popular. In 1978, Vivienne Westwood created the Vivienne Westwood brand.

80s. Provocative rebellion

Catwalks – a new height

By the 1980s, after the breakup of the Sex Pistols, Vivienne Westwood began to lose interest in punk clothing. At first she wanted to give up design, but at this time she became seriously interested in the history of costume and realized that the work of most fashion designers is a rethinking of the fashion of past years and centuries.

In 1981, the designer refurbished her store and changed its name to World’s End. Instead of street fashion, she turned to the art of tailoring and was carried away by the transformation of historical clothing.

Vivienne Westwood’s first collection was called The Three Musketeers. She became an inspiration for young designers (John Galliano) and (Alexander McQueen). In 1981, Vivien began presenting her collections at London Fashion Week, and since 1983 at Paris Fashion Week.

The first show in 1981 was called “The Pirate Collection”, it duplicated models from The Three Musketeers. The next collection presented clothes with Indian motifs and was called “Savages”. “Savages” and “Vagabonds” 1982 years made popular a new style of “tatters and holes”. The designer created clothes that parodied the fashionable classic luxury of the decade, but with external seams, loose loops and holes.
The hair at the shows was dirty, hats with feathers were sewn from burlap. In the same 1982, Vivienne Westwood put on bras over blouses on models, which became a prerequisite for the development of the popularity of underwear style.

The latest collaboration with Malcolm McLaren “Witches” collection with wool sweaters and voluminous double-breasted was a sensational show. At 1984 Vivienne Westwood introduced puffy short skirts “mini-crini” (mini-crinolines) combined with corsages, and then “Hariss Tweed” with traditional fabrics and a new vision of classic styles.

In 1987, the designer presented a collection with parodies of royal robes and Scottish costume. Clothes were shown by disheveled bbws with tattoos on their shoulders and smeared makeup – in corset bodices, plaid miniskirts and on a wooden platform. Vivienne Westwood’s provocations were external – underneath they hid the high quality of cut, inventive design and perfect execution of clothing models.

Opening of the second store

In 1984, Vivienne Westwood opened her second Nostalgia of Mud store in London. Its façade was decorated with a geographical map, and the interior was stylized as an archaeological excavation, the attributes of which were an earthen floor and voodoo figurines.

90s. Ironic historicism

New ideas

Wearing 1990s clothing, Vivienne Westwood mixed English and French styles in a direction that has become her new calling card. In this decade, the designer ironically rethought the fashion of the XVIII – XIX centuries. with the words “the only way to the future is to look back.” The facade of the boutique “End of the World” was decorated, going in the opposite direction.

In 1990, Vivienne launched a menswear line in Florence. In the same year, Vivienne Westwood launched her famous Portrait collection. In 1993, at the show of the autumn-winter collection, the fashion designer presented shoes on 25-centimeter platforms, saying that she loves to “put a woman on a pedestal, and in the truest sense of the word.” The show was marked by the fall of the model (Naomi Campbell).

In the fall-winter 1994-1995 and spring-summer 1995 collections, Vivienne Westwood offered models with “new erogenous zones” – a modified bustle in combination with a miniskirt. With regard to the body, the designer was a fetishist, even in her clothes emphasizing erogenous zones with the help of a cut, lining, or corset. Bustles were not commercially successful, but corsets continued to be present in almost every collection.

Awards

From 1989 to 1991, the designer, who did not have a higher education, was a fashion professor at the Vienna Academy of Applied Arts.
In 1990 and 1991, Vivienne Westwood was named Fashion Designer of the Year by the British Fashion Council.
In 1992, the designer became an Honorary Member of the Royal Society of Arts. In the same year, Queen Elizabeth II presented Vivien with the OBE (Order of the British Empire) at Buckingham Palace. The outrageous designer was dressed according to the rules of official social visits – in a hat, gloves and a skirt below the knees, but at the exit from the palace she waved the hem, demonstrating the absence of underwear.

In 1998, Vivienne Westwood received the Queen’s Award for Export Development.

In the same year, Vivienne Westwood, with the participation of the Japanese company “Itochu”, created a joint venture to promote products in the US and Japan, which to this day creates collections under the brands “Gold Label” (luxury women’s clothing), “Red Label” ( youth), “Man” (men’s clothing), “Anglomania” (unisex casual wear). At the end of 90’s designer released the perfume “Boudoir” (“Boudoir”).

2000s. Present and future

Family

Vivienne Westwood’s third husband was her student and creative partner Andreas Kronthaler, whom she met at the Vienna Academy.

“I hardly criticize my husband, Andreas Kronthaler. Although he is not entitled to any discount on age. He’s just the only one – of those whom I know in fashion – capable of ingenious solutions. His collections inside mine look like I’ve outdone myself. Because my head is a little tired. And there are still a lot of undeveloped territories in his head.”

The designer’s eldest son Benjamin is now a well-known erotic photographer, and the younger Joseph has created the world-famous lingerie.

Awards

In 2006, the Queen raised the Vivienne Westwood Order to the DBE for services to fashion. In 2007, within the framework of the British Fashion Awards, the designer was awarded an award for significant contribution to fashion design. The “queen of outrageousness” was late for the presentation, as she was in the toilet. That same year, Glossopdale Community College named its branch after the designer.

Stores and customers

Vivienne Westwood’s clients include Gwen Stefani, Gary Hall, Mick Jagger, Pete Burns, Nakashima Mika, Fearne Cotton, Naomi Campbell et al.

Sarah Jessica Parker’s character Carrie Bradshaw appeared in a Vivienne Westwood wedding dress in the feature film Sex and the City.

Westwood was also marked by style criticism (Kate Moss), reproaching the model for being too fond of things. The fashion designer also received a negative response from the image of Kate Middleton:

“Katherine looks like a completely ordinary girl, but she should try to be special.”

Vivienne Westwood currently has five branded stores, three in London and one each in Milan and Leeds. There are also showrooms in Milan, Paris and Los Angeles. Franchise stores are open in Glasgow, Liverpool, Nottingham, Newcastle, Manchester and York.

“A person trying to keep up with today is a complete zero. Here and now there is something that can only be understood after a while.

Vivienne Westwood’s interview with Tim Blanks (published in Interview magazine on July 19, 2012)

T.B.:
I’ve always liked the way you use aesthetics as a weapon – or at least as a force of good – as if you were a medium between culture and the real world. The last example I love is the nude portraits you did with Juergen Teller. I know they were created back in 2009 but I first saw them on his show in February. These portraits reminded me of Venus in front of Velazquez’s mirror.

V.V.:
She is there with her back to the viewer, she has a beautiful back and beautiful pale arms and legs.

TB:
And what kind of picture, where the artist depicted the object and naked and dressed at the same time?

VV:
It’s Goya! We did nude portraits since my hair was down. I usually don’t wear them loose. I think I’m too old for this. Old women with long flowing hair look stupid. Although my hair is dyed red. If they were white, I would look like a witch. In any case, Jürgen is pleased that we did everything the way we did.

T.B.:
Was the idea his or yours?

VV:
Oh no, I would never have thought of that. But I trust him, which is why I let him do it. I believe in him. If he says he wants to take a naked picture of me, I don’t think that I don’t want to do it. I think, “Well, okay, I can do it.”

TB:
And I thought the artistic idea came from you.

VV:
Jurgen told me to sit on the sofa. I could just sit on the couch and undress… I let my hair down. You know, being naked doesn’t mean being completely naked. A beautiful hairstyle, makeup is important … You can put a beautiful ring on your finger or something like that. It’s important to be “dressy”. I said I want to let my hair down. At that time, Jurgen’s wife and his little son were with us, the atmosphere was very relaxed.

T.B.:
Are you conceited?

VV:
I could be conceited… But I’ll tell you that I’m not trying to compete with other women at all. It’s possible when you’re young, but now, if I walk into the room and see Pamela Anderson, who looks amazing, I will admire her and not try to draw all the attention to myself. I am always happy for those who do something good. I’ll tell you this (I don’t know if this is conceited or not): when I wake up, sit in front of the mirror and put on my makeup, I look at myself and think I’m getting old. And then I forget about it. I’m satisfied with myself, that’s all. In fact, I think I look great for my age. Sometimes I don’t even do makeup and don’t think about it. There is one girl who always wears lipstick. Even when the phone rings and it turns out that this is her boyfriend, she begins to paint her lips. This is genius. And Jeri Hall, for example, puts on perfume before going to the podium. I mean it’s not vanity. When I was young, I always thought I looked good. Even though I didn’t have very straight teeth. I always thought that I would grow up and be even better. I knew that I could look good, so I always took care of myself and spent a lot of time doing my hair and so on.

T.B.:
When I think back to your first shows in Paris in the 80’s, I think about how different they were from anything you’ve done before on a cultural level. I was wondering if the songs of the Sex Pistols, the sound of the guitar and so on inspired you then?

VV:
Yes! Yes! I have always compared Charlie Parker to Steve Jones. They played different instruments, right? I think Steve was a genius guitarist, just great! I also liked Johnny Rotten.

T.B.:
He is a great example of how a person can turn into armor. It is possible to live a happy life outside of the image that you present to the world. Do you think you are doing this?

VV:
I don’t really care. I don’t want to seem good to everyone, but I think it’s reasonable to have a motive to make the world a better place. Of course, there is also self-indulgence, because in order to know something, you need to explore it. And if you have researched an object, you can make it better. I want to explore, that’s what I really care about. “I think, and therefore I exist” – this is all I am. I consistently go through all the lives that I live, because the opinion tends to be different at different times.

T.B.:
Do you agree that contradiction is the thread that ties all your lives together?

VV:
My husband calls me the queen of awkwardness. I guess it is, because I always have a opposing reaction to the monotony, when people do the same thing all the time … By the way, there is a girl, Jane Mulvach, who wrote a book about me, which is complete garbage. When she came to me, I didn’t want to help her write the book, because I don’t like people who try to be more important than you and plot behind your back. She said that I should talk to her, and I thought “Never!” Of course, if I had not refused her, the book would have turned out much better. But I did not help her, and it turned out to be rubbish.

T.B.:
Do you agree that wisdom comes with age?

VV:
Yes, it is. I call it investment. How you perceive the experience and how you relate to it. You can radically change your mind when you’re young, but I think the older we get, the less we change our minds because our outlook on things becomes more solid. Solid in the best sense of the word. All our decisions are based on experience and therefore are the most acceptable for us.

T.B.:
Do you think we get freer with age? This is especially true for women. A woman once told me that with the passage of time, all women are freed from worldly concerns and from what bothered them in their youth and middle age.

VV:
I think you are right. When I was younger, I probably performed my female role much brighter than I do now. A lot of people talk about a midlife crisis. It happened to me at the age of 30. After that, I stopped worrying about not being a sex object anymore.

T.B.:
Have you been before?

VV:
Yes. I got a lot of attention. She looked amazing! But I remember that when I saw Brigitte Bardot in the movies, I thought that I could never look so good.

TB:
How aware are you of your place in fashion history? In 1989, John Fairchild said that he considered you one of the most influential designers.

VV:
See Halston’s book on the table? Andreas bought it at a second-hand store. I have never looked at his work before, but now I do. His style seems to come from the 70s. If he was not alive, then everyone would think that these are clothes from the 70s. I think that here my fashion corresponds to the period in which I live. She is very eclectic. In the 70s, when Malcolm and I opened Let it Rock, we were looking for something rock, something from the 50s, because we were tired of hippies. He was never a hippie, he hated authority and never dressed according to the trends of the time. It was the beginning of an era of nostalgia for the 30s, 40s… I analyzed all the facts and decided that we should be rebels, we should go back to the 50s and protest against the adult world. That’s when the teddy-fights came along. People didn’t like it, they continued to follow the hippie fashion. And that was just the beginning of an era of nostalgia. Now fashion has gone through everything that is possible. Now it will not be possible to invent something new, so fashion has become eclectic.

T.B.:
I didn’t understand whether you were against nostalgia or for it. It seems to me that your eclecticism had a fairly strong radical influence …

VV:
Oh, I think I had a very strong influence. But mostly it was directed against me. People thought clothes shouldn’t have torn edges. If the fabric is bad, then it really looks terrible, but I influenced the fact that people basically started using this technique. I can not express my opinion about today’s fashion. A few years ago, I would have said that she is terrible, that there are no people who look good. Of course, there are some really good designers in the world. Yves Saint Laurent and Cristobal Balenciaga inspired a lot of people. But I never follow the general trends, because I don’t even look at fashion magazines, unless they have photographs of my work printed in them.

T.B.:
I always thought that there was some special relationship between you.

VV:
I consider her a very, very talented designer. This is first. I know that Rei is more committed to contemporary art than I am. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t inspire me. We are all inspired by everything that happens around us. Rei can be very extreme at times. She can make clothes with very wide hip lines, with a hump or something like that…

T.B.:
But both of you changed the fashion silhouette, dropped all the rules.

VV:
I don’t know. I just added different details to fashion at different times. Did I change the silhouette? At some time, I left the wide shoulders and returned the narrow shoulders to the silhouette. I made a lot of changes in the style of my clothes while working with Andreas. By the way, in the last 20 years he has developed no less designs than I have. Few people know about it. He is very responsible. Most of the time I am, in fact, his assistant. He is the boss. He watches over everything. I mean, he gets terribly upset if something is sewn in the wrong way. He very aesthetically perceives beauty and human potential in clothes.

T.B.:
Is this the first time you have worked with someone in this way?

VV:
I learned a lot from Andreas and I think he also benefited from working with me. He cannot control his power on his own.

TB:
It’s funny to think that you discipline someone.

VV:
I have a very strong inner discipline. I am one of those who break the principles. Andreas can create amazing cuts based on principles, while I rely more on geometry. We work with him in different ways. The best thing he did was figure out a way to make our clothes look like they were made by a drunk tailor. And this creates a feeling of incredible dynamics. As if you are in motion, although you have not yet begun to move. This is genius.

T.B.:
Are you melancholy?

VV:
No. Now I feel much happier than a few years ago, because the work has given me the opportunity to talk about things that are really important to me. I feel that now everything is coming together and merging into a single whole. My fashion helps me say what I want. And what I say, in turn, helps fashion. I’m worried that I don’t interact with people enough. But I want to force them to do something that will help our climate and ecological situation. It seems to me that I am doing my best for this, this question has always bothered me. There are thousands of non-governmental organizations and charitable foundations, individuals doing amazing things. Recently, I have met people who support me and give me hope. I believe in the Gaia principle, according to which the Earth interacts with the biosphere and thereby restores its health. I believe that we have the potential to help make the Earth healthy.

T.B.:
That’s why I asked you about melancholy. After all, we do not know how the world works.

VV:
Yeah. I would like to be the last person on earth to find out how it all works.

TB:
In your works melancholy goes hand in hand with romance. The romantic ideal is one of the unrealizable ideals of mankind. It exists to be destroyed.

VV:
Are you talking about Romance with a capital “R”, the Romance of the 1830s – suffering and consumptive? I don’t know, maybe it’s a kind of nostalgia… A kind of longing for the past or for something that doesn’t even exist. I always come up with designs designed for a parallel universe. For me, a hero is someone who is able to live a real life.

T.B.:
Do you think that the controversial path you have chosen is being swallowed up by the mainstream? I mean that you are honored by the society that you despised.

VV:
I know. I realize that I am very popular. At the end of the punk rock period, I realized that it was a marketing ploy and an opportunity to develop more products. But it was also an opportunity to create a free society. “We have rebels, so we are free.” But I thought that this was not enough, that we should go further and generate more ideas. Forget the rules. I don’t oppose them. Of course, politically we do not agree with them, but I am no longer interested in opposing anything. I am interested in research.

T.B.:
I imagine moments where you chuckle at being hailed as Mistress Vivienne Westwood.

VV:
No, I never thought it was weird. Such thoughts never crossed my mind. Of course, when you are suddenly given such a title, you are at a loss for words. But, in any case, you accept it. Perhaps Socrates felt something similar when he took the poison. It’s the same, but in a good way. If society asks me to, why not?

T.B.:
But this title has turned you into a symbol…

VV:
I am aware that if my parents had not moved from Northern England to Southern England, I might have become a teacher, not a designer. Sometimes I think it would be nice to live an ordinary life, read books and see friends. In the conditions of my life, I do not have time for this . .. Other people have more time for all this, but I understand that I live a life that not everyone lives. I have always gravitated toward learning life lessons. I don’t know what would happen if I became a teacher. I’m sure I’d be the headmistress. Or I would work with students… or teachers’ unions… Maybe I would write a book and do something for the education system.

T.B.:
Who would you say is the most important person in your life?

VV:
This is Gary Ness, my friend. I know I judge myself. But I consider him one of the smartest people in the whole world. He drew my attention to art and carried me away with reading. He taught me to look at things realistically. Of course, Malcolm also influenced me. But I got tired of him, because he only wanted superficial success, he did not go deep into the matter. So he stopped being interesting to me. I think it’s important to move forward, and he didn’t do that.

T.B.:
And the last thing: how would you like to see your old age?

VV:
I wish I could live long enough to see people confront the issue of climate change. Perhaps then they will have a real motivation to fight it.

TB:
And that would be more important than what people think about how you changed fashion?

VV:
Yes, I don’t worry about that. I don’t expect anything from anyone. We know so little… We have lost much more knowledge than we have gained. And so I don’t know what I think about life after death. I’m still convinced that it doesn’t exist. I don’t want monuments erected to me, I would rather just disappear. Definitely, definitely, definitely.

Vivienne Westwood (Interview with Time Out-London, 2008)

Time Out London:
Who are your London heroes?

Queen. I understand that she is the hero of the whole country, but London would be terrible without her. If you imagine all these politicians without her, all this would be so boring without such context as, for example, royal flags. I think it’s all so sweet… Even Buckingham Palace. You may think he’s terrible, but I think he’s cute. And Neil MacGregor from the British Museum.

Time Out London:
Of all the events in the fashion industry that have taken place over the past 40 years, which do you consider the most significant?

Punk – nothing more to say. I walked the streets in rubber negligees and stilettos while everyone else sported jeans and platform shoes. I felt like a real heroine. I knew I looked good.

Time Out London:
What is the future of fashion?

Looks like London will be half underwater in 20 years! The collection that I show here is characterized by street and sexy style. She reminds me of fun, drinking and stuff like that. It’s for people who go out on a Saturday night and want to dress up.

Time Out London:
What is your favorite place in London?

Wallace Gallery. The works of French art that are in the Wallace collection are unlike anything else, they are magnificent. It was collected at a time when all this was not appreciated, after the Revolution. I have always said that this is the best art school in the country.

Vivienne Westwood is a British fashion designer, born in Derbyshire (England) on April 8, 1941, the creator of the punk style. The tabloids call Vivienne Westwood the “English rebel”, the most non-standard and provocative designer of the turn of the millennium.

Career Vivten Westwood

Not stopping there, Vivienne Westwood was fascinated by the history of costume, resulting in the transformation of traditional historical outfits in a very unexpected modern interpretation.
Vivienne Westwood’s creative path began with studying at an art school, where she not only studied the basics of design skills, but also met a life partner – Malcolm McLaren, a fan of street subculture and producer of the Sex Pistols group. In 1971, together they opened the Let It Rock store (later renamed Sex) in London, which became the center of the informal party. The features of the outfits of regular customers of the store inspired Vivienne Westwood to develop a new style of street fashion – “punk” as well as “porno-chic”.

Vivienne Westwood’s collections amazed with a unique choice of images, from which new trends of modern fashion subsequently developed: “Three Musketeers” (hats with feathers and tight pants), “New Romantics” (clothes with Soviet symbols), “Pirates” (baggy cut, wide trousers), Savages and Tramps (torn clothes with tatters, dropped loops, seams out), Longing for mud (incredible color combinations of clothes and blurred makeup), Witches (voluminous double-breasted coats), Mini -Crini” (corsets and crinolines), “Hariss Tweed” (the use of traditional English fabrics and classic styles).

In 1978, a new brand officially appears in the fashion world – Vivienne Westwood. Since 1981, Vivienne Westwood regularly participates in London fashion shows of ready-to-wear collections, and two years later her clothes conquered the catwalks of Paris.

In 1998, the Vivienne Westwood brand became famous in the USA and Japan, where, with the assistance of the Japanese company Itochu, the production of the Gold Label collection (luxury men’s and women’s clothing), Red Label (ready-to-wear youth collection ), “Man” (casual menswear), “Anglomania” (unisex clothing).

Vivienne Westwood managed to harmoniously combine the styles of “punk” and “fetish”. The recognizable elements of Vivienne Westwood’s author’s collections are Victorian-style corsets and crinolines adapted to the present, heraldic elements on accessories, fabrics with large blue stripes or bright plaid, high boots with many straps or shoes on a high wooden platform, asymmetric fasteners, turned-out seams, dropped loops, deliberately lifted skirt hemlines, pulled back pockets and knees, underwear worn over blouses.

Despite the outrageous style, each presented item impresses with its virtuoso, impeccable cut, fantastic ingenuity of finishing, excellent workmanship, and at the same time looks very sexy and feminine.

Achievements Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne Westwood became the second woman in the history of British fashion to conquer Paris Fashion Weeks.
Vivienne Westwood’s early collections inspired fashion designers Alexander McQueen and John Galliano to create their own trends and styles.
In 1992, Queen Elizabeth II presented Vivienne Westwood with a high award – the OBE order, and in 2006 – an even higher DBE order for services to fashion. Today Vivienne Westwood has been awarded the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Vivienne Westwood has been named UK Designer of the Year multiple times and is one of the top 10 fashion designers of the 20th century.
According to the British, there are three queens in the country that they are proud of: Elizabeth II, Margaret Thatcher and Vivienne Westwood.
The British art school Glossopdale Community College in 2007 named one of its branches “Westwood” in honor of the famous designer who once studied here.
In Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker’s character) appears several times in outfits designed by Vivienne Westwood, and the wedding dress is especially popular.
Dita Von Teese married Marilyn Manson in a purple Vivienne Westwood wedding dress.
Today Vivienne Westwood has three boutiques in London, one each in Leeds and Milan, stores in Los Angeles and Paris.

Personal life Vivienne Westwood

Primary school teacher Vivienne Westwood never thought that her life would be connected with the world of fashion. She married Derek Westwood early in order, according to rumors, to quickly leave a poor but scandalous family. However, today she herself is often called the “queen of scandals”, capable of disturbing the peace of even stiff English society.

Marriage with Westwood was short-lived, but soon after the divorce, Vivienne met musician Malcolm McLaren, with whom she lived in a civil marriage for 13 years.

Today the flamboyant designer is not alone again: her current husband is the Austrian designer Andreas Kronthaler, who is 30 years younger than Vivien, which does not prevent her from feeling happy.

Vivienne Westwood leads an active political life, participating in actions to support the Labor Party, to cancel the government’s decision on the operation of nuclear power plants; she even released a collection of T-shirts, which flaunted the inscription: I
AM
NOT
A
TERRORIST,
please
don’
t
arrest
me.

Vivienne Westwood style

Bright orange hair, stylish t-shirts with catchy slogans, parodic outfits, incredible platform shoes, extreme make-up – the appearance of shocking queen Vivienne Westwood always causes an emotional shock in others, as well as her collections presented on the catwalks.

Vivienne Westwood quotes

. A whole personality always consists of contradictions.
. If a woman is confident in herself, then she can successfully manipulate all other things, including sexual attractiveness.
. We must be able to be bold and pay less attention to other people’s opinions.
. The secret of success is in self-sufficiency, in the ability to be a person, to remain happy with yourself. It’s difficult. But everything else life will present to you as a gift.
Vivienne Westwood on psychology

. You can wear whatever and however you like. The main thing is that it looks feminine and sexy.
. Even if you have little money, save up for one chic thing and wear it everywhere – to work, to visit, to parties.
Vivienne Westwood on style and fashion

. It would be strange to hide your age, anyway, anyone can calculate it.
. A person trying to keep up with today is a complete zero. Here and now something is happening that will become clear only after a while
Vivienne Westwood on age

Vivienne Westwood’s popularity is gaining momentum more and more. Her punk attitude to life at the beginning of the 21st century is even more relevant than before, and her British patriotism is simply inimitable. It was not for nothing that she was granted the title of Lady of the British Empire.

Dossier:

Vivienne Westwood’s real name is Vivienne Elisabeth Swire, she was born in the town of Glossop in Derbyshire on April 8, 1941.

She began designing in 1971 when she opened Let It Rock at 430 Kings Road. In 1974 the store became known as Sex.

In 1976, together with her future husband and partner Malcolm McLaren, she designed clothing for the Sex Pistols.

In 1981 Vivienne Westwood’s first collection came out in London, called Pirate.

In 1990, Vivien launched a men’s clothing line, which was presented in Florence. Then she was named the best British designer of the year – as in 1991 year.

In 1998, she received the prestigious Queen’s Export Award.

In 2007, she was awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Fashion Design at the British Fashion Awards – but she arrived late because she was on the toilet.

About her views on life, she says: “When I was a schoolgirl, my history teacher, Miss Scott, proudly told us about freedom and democracy, about the French monarchy and the fall of the Bastille. We can only take democracy for granted if we stand up for our freedom.”

Vivienne Westwood has been at the top of the fashion industry longer than anyone else and is a role model for many. Super trendy and mischievous at the same time, she wows everyone with her antics, like wearing a 2005 children’s T-shirt that reads “I’M NOT A TERRORIST, don’t arrest me.” Her path to the Olympus of world fashion could be filmed as a new punk Cinderella fairy tale, inspired by the love and spirit of the London streets.

Ten facts from the biography of Vivienne Westwood

1 – School teacher.

Today’s image of Vivienne Westwood: red mop of hair, bright makeup and crazy outfits – does not fit too well with the classic image of a teacher.

Nevertheless, Vivien began her professional career in pedagogy. After moving to London from the English province of Westwood, she graduated from teacher training college, and then married dance hall manager Derek Westwood, gave birth to a child and worked as a school teacher for some time.

2 – Through the love of fashion.

Who knows what the fate of Vivienne Westwood would have been if in the early 70s the future “scandal queen”, as they call her in her native Britain, had not fallen in love. And Cupid chose his chosen one for Westwood with imagination – he became the leader of the famous Sex Pistols group Malcolm McLaren. Vivienne Westwood spent 13 years with him and it was from him that she got the idea to design clothes.

By the way, McLaren became the first financial partner of Vivienne Westwood in her fashion empire – at 19In 1974 they opened a clothing store together with the flashy name “Sex”

3 – New old punk style.

Many designers have made their careers not on radical innovations in fashion, but simply on the original compilation of fashion styles and trends. Vivienne Westwood was one of them.

Inspired by youth subcultures and street fashion in London, Westwood brought punk into fashion at the end of the hippie flower era.

Ripped clothes, denim, British flag symbols have become favorite details of the Westwood collections. In essence, Vivienne Westwood created fashion from anti-fashion, so in the 70s, punk was a purely street, anarchist culture, closely associated with music.

4 – From punk to romanticism.

Vivienne Westwood admits that during her affair with Malcolm McLaren and her first punk design experiences, she did not feel like a fashion designer – she was simply drawn to experiments.

Nevertheless, the designer calls historical romanticism the core of his corporate identity. In the 80s, Vivienne Westwood re-read Dumas’ novel The Three Musketeers, studied old engravings and decided to create a collection at the intersection of the past and the present. Thus was born the most stellar collection of Westwood – “Pirates”. Baggy cut, wide trousers and pirate hats from this collection inspired the designer for new experiments more than once.

5 – Fashion for rags and underwear for show.

After the “Pirates” collection in 1981, Vivienne Westwood became famous as an extraordinary fashion designer, and Westwood, in turn, “woken up her appetite.” Her next collection in 1982, Savages and Tramps, began a new era in Vivienne Westwood’s history.

The designer parodies fashion by showing ripped clothes with out-seam and underwear over blouses. But the most scandalous effect was produced by models in which the symbols of Great Britain were played up, in particular, the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1987, on one of Vivienne Westwood’s T-shirts, the designer pierced the queen’s lip with a pin. The queen was not offended, and the scandalous picture invented by Westwood was then copied more than once by other brands.

6 – Fetish – pirate boots

First seen in Vivienne Westwood’s debut Pirates collection in 1981, the multi-strap leather high boots have become a Westwood iconic piece.

Over the course of 20 years, Vivienne Westwood has re-released pirate boots dozens of times in a variety of color variations: with and without heels, made of leather and fabric, leaving branded straps unchanged

British fashionistas Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller and Kate Moss also love pirate boots as an integral part of the English style.

7 – Clothes in Sex and the City

A good friend of Vivienne Westwood and a big fan of her work, Patricia Field, an American stylist, has been choosing clothes for the Sex and the City actresses for several years in a row.

In several episodes of the series, the main character Cary Bradshaw appears dressed as Vivienne Westwood. The most famous of them: the episode where Bradshaw gets a chance to work in Vogue magazine and comes to an interview in a Vivienne Westwood Anglomania striped business suit.

Carey Bradshaw’s wedding dress has become no less famous – in the first film, “” Carey receives Vivienne Westwood’s wedding dress as a gift before the wedding.

8 – Very young husband

Now 70-year-old Vivienne Westwood is married to her former student, Austrian designer Andreas Kronthaler, who is half her age.

In one of her candid interviews, the designer admitted that she met Andreas after eight years of loneliness, but she never planned to marry him.

“I had no intention of marrying Andreas at all – the English bureaucracy is to blame. We were lovers, we lived together, but Andreas often had to leave for Europe and return back to England, and it was easier for us to get married than to draw up a whole pile of papers every time, ”says Vivienne Westwood.

9 – Opinion on Kate Middleton

For the royal wedding in April 2011, Kate Middleton chose a bridal gown designed by Alexander McQueen designer Sarah Burton.

When, a few weeks before the wedding, Vivienne Westwood found out that she had not been offered to design the future princess’s wedding dress, the designer suddenly decided to criticize Kate Middleton. Vivienne Westwood has announced that Kate Middleton will never be a style queen. And the designer also said that the chosen one of the prince does not have enough taste to wear her creation.

By the way, not the first celebrity that Vivienne Westwood offends. Recently, when asked what Vivien thought about the style of actress Emma Watson, she replied that she had no idea who she was talking about.

10- Star of your country

As the British say, there are three queens in Great Britain who can be proud of – these are Elizabeth II, the famous woman politician Margaret Thatcher and the inimitable brawler Vivienne Westwood, who symbolizes the natural love of the British for kitsch and outrageousness with her collections.

Vivienne Westwood has repeatedly become the designer of the year in her native UK, she also has the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire and is one of the top ten most famous fashion designers of the century.

Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood spring summer 2017 collection Paris Fashion Week

Based on materials from Lyubov Zazova

Ecology and politics are the theme of the show of new works by the famous designer and grandmother of the punk movement.

Famous fashion designer Vivienne Westwood showed her new collection at Men’s Fashion Week
in London. It was called “Ekotrichestvo”
(Ecotricity) and, in a typical Westwood style, carried not only new fashion trends, but also important social and political meanings.

Vivien’s work is traditionally dominated by political activism and ecology. The name of the new collection symbolizes this trend. It reflects the combination of the words “ecology” and “electricity”, which, combined into one, serve as a call to use environmentally friendly energy sources. Westwood herself calls “green energy” the best idea she has ever heard, and the description of the London show said:

“What’s good for the planet is good for the economy. What is bad for the planet is bad for the economy.”

Vivienne Westwood Red Label spring-summer-2016 collection London Fashion Week

Punk motifs have not disappeared. The combined show of the men’s and women’s collections included mohair inserts, scuffs, torn inserts, and even homemade accessories made from plastic cutlery. Strings as belts and paper crowns made an expressive reference towards marginality and outrageousness. Some models wore prints featuring Westwood herself, while others sported eco-political slogan patches on their suits.

Vivienne Westwood spring-summer-2017 Milan Fashion Week

Of course, more non-trivial items have appeared in the collection, for example, men’s dresses or tight leggings, but most of the new works will appeal to the designer’s many fans. As always, her creations are distinguished by a skilful cut, which includes stylish models of outerwear and quite glamorous evening dresses. Westwood remains one of the darlings of secular society, whose representatives often show off in her outfits on the red carpet of premieres and festivals. Last weekend, for example, in a dress from Vivienne Westwood came to the awards ceremony “Golden Globe” actress of series “Game of Thrones”
Christy Gwendolyn.

Vivienne Westwood about style and fashion — Women’s magazine “GOLDEN”

At 77, Vivienne Westwood is the “grandmother of punk”, the queen of outrageousness and the national treasure of England. Who better than her can teach you to express yourself through clothes?

Once a punk grandmother, now a national treasure in England, before a red-haired beast, and now a respectable gray-haired lady. Vivienne Westwood has been surprising the fashion world with her creativity for almost half a century, and along the way she gives us invaluable style lessons.

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Shopping

“Buy less. Choose carefully. Quantity is not quality. Today people buy too many clothes.”

It’s time to learn about the basic wardrobe, make capsules and seriously think about rational consumption. Even if the problem of overproduction is not yet obvious to everyone, the problem of closet overpopulation is relevant for everyone. And it doesn’t matter if we are talking about several shelves and half a rail in a closet or a whole dressing room.

Read also: What to wear when there is nothing to wear – we sort out the wardrobe with a stylist >>>>>

The situation “nowhere to hang, but nothing to wear” exists with any input. We will solve it comprehensively! Finally, sort out things: get rid of everything that is not worn, presses, pricks, small, large, in spools or out of fashion. And for everything else, buy universal companion items. Versatile means matching three to five sets at once, and not just those pink sequined trousers.

About style

« Style is when the crowd drives you out of the city, and you pretend to lead the procession.»

Probably, it happened to you too, when you felt the increased attention of the public on yourself, you got lost, doubted and tried to take a safe position somewhere in the corner and on the periphery. Perhaps that evening you decided on some original outfit, on an open back or bright makeup. And, perhaps, all this even suited you, looked impressive and stylish, but with the first interest shown, not supported by words of approval, self-confidence melted like the first snow.

Read also: “The main thing in a dress is the woman who puts it on” – Yves Saint Laurent style lessons >>>>>

style, albeit in the most expensive clothes. So stay confident and free, even if your image is already photographed without hesitation.

About self-expression

« I personally never worry about what people think of me. You have to come up with your own look and get off the fashion treadmill.”

Of course, it’s not about making a ritual ashes out of all the fashion gloss warmed up in the house, and not about unsubscribing from all fashion bloggers at once. Fashion in itself carries a lot of great ideas, aesthetics and satisfies our age-old feminine passion for renewal. But only on condition that this passion does not become harmful and does not cause dependence.

Read also: “Each thing you wear is important” – style lessons from Donna Karan >>>>>

A girl for whom success, her own attractiveness and value are measured only by the novelty of the collections she wears causes serious concern. People do not evaluate us by tags and price tags, at least those who are worth talking to. And what suits you looks more expensive than it costs – and in the eyes of others too.

About the right clothes

“In my opinion, fashion is an exciting way to show yourself, your true self. The right clothes make you an interesting extraordinary person. The main thing is that you should wear what really suits you.

Westwood’s fashion may seem too bold an experiment to become a mass phenomenon, but nevertheless her models were and remain in demand. The secret is in a bright personality, unusual beauty, ultimate character. All collections to some extent reflect their author, but at the same time they teach not to be afraid to show themselves through their wardrobe.

Read also: “There is nothing sexier than a woman in a men’s suit” – style lessons from Ralph Lauren >>>>>

We often make mistakes in our attempts to copy someone else’s style, confusing the relationship between person and image. As if a suit like Kylie Jenner would make us look like her. Nothing happened! It will look good only if it really suits you – just for you, and not for distant red-carpet celebrities, even if they are popular and stylish.

About perfection

“ Perfection should look natural.”

It happens that in the dressing room mirror we see an ideal beauty, but for some reason she does not reach the house with us. Or it comes, but prefers not to know the outside world, and lives in a closet compartment called “I bought it and don’t wear it. ” This happens in two cases: if there is nothing to wear a thing with (but such people accompany you at least occasionally, albeit in non-ideal sets) or if the thing is bought in a state of passion, under the influence of fashionable ideals and advice from friends.

Read also: “There is no beauty without strangeness” – Karl Lagerfeld’s rules of life >>>>>

Although the most correct decision is obvious to the banal: first, understand what you love more, find it among the current models and combine it in those combinations that are comfortable for your eye and sense of beauty. The ideal look is one in which you feel naturally at home.

Vera Markina

Naked anarchy Vivienne Westwood: 10 facts from the life of an 80-year-old punk grandmother

1. She was a teacher

It’s hard to believe, but in her youth, Westwood graduated from Teachers College and worked as a school teacher for a while. One must think that the students were delighted with her – even then Westwood considered herself a punk in her soul and dressed, to put it mildly, atypically. Later, the youngest son, Westwood, recalled that every time his mother was called to school, he wanted to sink into the ground from shame at the way she looked.

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2. From the first husband left a son and a surname

The first husband of the future punk-style grandmother was Derek Westwood, from whom, after three years of marriage, there was a son, Ben, and a surname that Vivien glorified all over the world. Ben is now known as an erotic photographer.

Photo: Wikimedia

3. Love brought her into fashion

Acquaintance with Sex Pistols producer Malcolm McLaren was a key moment not only in her personal but also in her creative life. It was thanks to McLaren that the self-taught designer decided to devote herself to creating clothes. It all started with the “Sex” store, which he and McLaren opened at 1974 and where the style of her brand originates from. They lived with McLaren for 13 years, they have a joint son, Joseph, the founder of the famous erotic lingerie brand Agent Provocateur. And although they parted rather coolly (McLaren called Westwood a seamstress, and she called him his group manager), their influence on the culture of Great Britain cannot be overestimated.

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0070

Westwood’s personal life has always been closely intertwined with her career: her former student Andreas Kronthaler became the designer’s third husband. Today he is her permanent companion and co-author of all collections of the brand. Paying tribute to him, the Queen of Punk renamed Vivienne Westwood’s label Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood.

Naomi Campbell’s famous Vivenne Westwood shoes on the catwalk
(Photo: Wikimedia)

5. She designed clothes for the first persons of the state

For the then Prime Minister Margaret Matcher Vivienne created a strict tweed suit, but before sending it to the customer, she could not resist and herself starred in it in the image of the “Iron Lady” for the cover Tatler magazine. Under the photo it said: “Once upon a time this woman was a punk.” The Prime Minister is said to have been angered by this outburst. But Theresa May, who held this post from 2016 to 2019, was much more complacent and often wore Vivienne Westwood things. Vivienne also had clients in the British royal family. However, she refused to sew a dress for Kate Middleton, saying that the image of the future princess seems fresh to her.

6. She doesn’t follow the trends

Westwood’s clothing does not fall under any fashion canon and at the same time always remains relevant. The designer does not follow fashion trends and from year to year hones his own style, based on a mixture of historical (primarily Victorian) costume, theatricality and street trends.

Photo: Wikimedia

7. Anarchism is the essence of her nature

In 1992, Vivienne Westwood was awarded the Order of the British Empire for services to fashion. She received the award from the hands of Queen Elizabeth II. Leaving the territory of Buckingham Palace, Westwood began to pose for photographers and pulled up her skirt so that it was clear that she was not wearing underwear. She repeated the same trick in 2006, when the Prince of Wales awarded her the title of Lady. Outrageous? Yes, but also the desire to show that for her there are no unshakable authorities.

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8. She is not afraid to be ridiculous and funny

Westwood’s creative style is as controversial as its creator. Therefore, the best face of Vivienne Westwood collections is Vivienne Westwood herself. She starred in the advertising campaigns of her brand in the most unattractive way, without any filters and photoshop, not embarrassed by wrinkles and a flabby body. And it was not just a desire to shock, but a call not to be afraid to be funny, ridiculous, free – in a word, to be yourself. The UK has always valued a bright individuality, paradox and eccentricity.

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9. Queen of protests

Westwood has always had an active life position and was not afraid to express it (for example, harshly criticizing Margaret Thatcher). But in the last decade, actionism seems to excite her much more than fashion itself. From global warming to Brexit (she was a vocal opponent of Britain’s exit from the EU), from the deforestation of Brazil’s forests to the fate of Julian Assange, Westwood knows how to draw the public’s attention to the most serious problems.

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men’s. Back in January 2017, she combined them under one logo and has since shown at London Men’s Fashion Week. And Westwood also held a digital presentation instead of a traditional show, one of the first in the world. Over the past years, the designer has been talking about the importance of conscious consumption, convincing the audience to buy fewer things, but of better quality. And she does it absolutely sincerely, and not because such a position is now in vogue.

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* In honor of Vivienne Westwood’s anniversary, Vogue gave her a gift – digitized her archival collections and posted them for public access on vogue.com.

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Pirate princess. Vivienne Westwood

Pirate Princess

Vivienne in those days was like a grenade with the pin pulled out.

Carlo D’Amario, CEO of Vivienne Westwood and former lover of its founder

Leave the matter to me. I will plunder everything for you. Stick with me and you will get generous gifts. My name is Progress… Now hardly anyone believes that the world will get better. What is the future of unlimited profit in a world that will come to an end?

“Pirate” and “Active Resistance” parts from Vivienne Westwood’s “Active Resistance to Propaganda”

“The reason I became a designer somehow comes down to the fact that I felt the need to do it. I started helping Malcolm simply because I could help. But then the moment came when The Sex Pistols appeared, then Sid died, and everything had to change. The Sex Pistols disbanded, and the rent of our World’s End store went up, and I was faced with the choice of whether to continue working or not. I could give up. At that time, I was suffering big losses in the store, I didn’t know then that the manager was to blame for the losses, who was stealing from us in order to buy drugs for himself. It has become a big problem. In the meantime, our paths with Malcolm finally diverged. So Malcolm opened up design for me, but I ended up doing it by myself. For the Pirates collection, I did absolutely everything myself. I knew every detail of clothing as if it were my own children, because I myself made every, even the smallest decision! Now I don’t do that much anymore.”

In 1979, the Conservatives, led by Margaret Thatcher, won a landslide victory in the elections. They came to power on a wave of conflicting sentiments: nostalgia for the values of the war years – faith in one’s own strength and unshakable moral principles – and a clear distrust of the poor and disenfranchised people. The One Nation Tory movement faded into the background, giving way to a radical free market economy and the assertion that there is no single society, only individualism and, so be it, the family. When Lady Diana Spencer gave birth to the heir to the throne, British fashion had a stormy romance with the past, and with the royal past, and this fit very well with the concept of Vivienne’s work, which followed punk. For better or for worse, the country seemed to be re-creating its identity – as was Vivienne. True, for her, the late 70s and early 80s were more than just the transformation of the owner of a punk clothing store into a mass fashion guru. In those years, she and Malcolm finally parted, and Vivienne, as a real designer, began to fully control the creative component of the process. “In all the years of The Sex Pistols and punk rock, I didn’t consider myself a designer at all.” And after – yes.

“That’s how it was. When The Sex Pistols disbanded, we closed the shop (Seditionaries). The rent was raised, and I had to make a decision whether to continue working. I told Malcolm: “Either I help you with music, or you help me with fashion,” and he replied: “Always only fashion.” Malcolm advised me which direction to take, he said: “We need romance.” I was dumbfounded: the last thing I expected from him was such a statement. When they asked me what we would do next, I answered: “Romance. ” And suddenly everyone began to call themselves “new romantics.” Bought theatrical costumes at Fox Sale. One guy looked very cool – disc jockey Jeremy Healy, very handsome, thin, with bleached hair, which he then dyed gray and tied back in a ponytail. He was very reminiscent of the protagonist of Hogarth’s series of paintings “The Rake’s Adventures”. I think it was actually he who started the new movement, and Malcolm came up with “Romance” looking at him. Soon Jeremy changed his image, began to dress in the style of a hobo / trump. I thought: “Well, that means what other fashion designers are doing.” And I bought a book on the history of fashion.

Pirates Collection and iconic Westwood print

Vivien’s explanation of her cutting technique, which combines historicism and revolutionism

At the same time, Adam Ent asked Malcolm to be his manager and the manager of his band Ants. And the first thing Malcolm did was get rid of Adam and start looking for another singer and eventually found Anabella, who worked in a dry cleaner and created a band called Bow Vow Vow.

The image that attracted me – and, as it turned out later, attracted my former students – dresses, paintings and engravings from the French Revolution with images of golden youth, amazing incruise bleu and magnificent merveilleuse. They wore wigs and coats back to front, tied a red ribbon around their necks in memory of the era of terror and the guillotine, and the Merveilleuse cut their hair short “a la victim”, draped in long pieces of muslin, tying them under the chest, and wetting them to fit the body: they wanted to look like Greek statues. I included a similar dress in the Pirates collection, and Malcolm encouraged me to add a Nazi helmet to it instead of a Greek one. But the main haircut for the collection was like that of Rod Stewart from the album “Rod the Mod”, and frock coats of the 18th century with narrow shoulders had a lot in common with fashion 1970s.

Malcolm was not with me. He became interested in mixing music: he created his own music from someone else’s – he was engaged in piracy. He wanted me to recreate a pirate look, so I turned to 17th-century musketeer outfits and contemporary cuts. I copied several historical costumes as closely as I could and enjoyed my discoveries. I always tried to capture the features that are most characteristic, for example, for a jacket of that time or breeches. I’m the only fashion designer who tried to do this. You will inevitably adapt the old pattern, decorate it and/or lighten it to suit your purposes. In addition, I got one or two ideas from tribes, third world countries, and patterns on Indian saddlebags. And we stylized the collection as if our pirates absorbed exotic motifs of tribal clothing into their image.

I started to work on the Pirates collection, which eventually developed into a real fall/winter 1981 collection, based on a shirt cut that had not been used for several centuries. I thought: to make my knead, I will have to go to the Victoria and Albert Museum with a measuring tape! But instead, I found Nora Waugh’s Tailoring Men’s Clothing and bought it. ”

So Vivienne began to get acquainted with a completely new language of fashion for her. In her outfits, she had previously turned to the past, but only to the recent past or to the motives of different tribes. It was as if Vivien were working as a production designer in a theater, creating the story, the shop decorations and the music, and using them to create context and give meaning to the motifs she used from the past.

“When I was working on the Pirates collection,” says Vivien, “I saw a print of a pirate in wide trousers with a fabric hanging over the crotch, and I wanted to make the same ones. And to create the same liberated image … They [in the 17th century] looked at sexuality in a completely different way. I only found out about this when I started looking for information.

I must say that my self-confidence grew. I didn’t have a choice. I quite consciously decided to become a fashion designer, to hold a show and turn to the past, to history, to romance. That’s where other fashion designers get their ideas from, I thought: they go to Mexico for a vacation and look for inspiration there. I didn’t have that opportunity. There was not a penny left in my pocket and I had to raise two sons. But I could turn to the past, I had books, so I began to create a romantic image. It was then that the idea came up to make a pirate collection. This idea made it possible to break out of the ordinary – from the place and time in which I was stuck – and delve into history, into the study of third world countries, trying to escape from London, where punks roamed the streets, in the process of creating Pirates, and find out more about the world we live in. Exploration and wonderful discoveries awaited me. Such was my idea. Gold teeth and nothing else black and no chains. If we used chains, then only artificially aged, rusty ones – like on pirate ships of the New World. My first collection was inspired by characters as diverse as the Apache leader Geronimo and pirates. The collection was a combination of their images, seasoned with the French Revolution, with its hopes for change, violence and sexuality. The result was an image that spread throughout all countries, got on the stage and in the cinema. Just think of Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow could well have walked the runway at the show of my then collection.

Architect’s drawing of a clock for World’s End

Vivienne decided to leave the store at 430 Kings Road and it was redesigned for the last time – in the manner of a pirate ship with a sloping deck. It was also renamed “World’s End”, or “Edge of the World”, and the name denoted both the place and the spirit that reigned there. At the same time, a clock was installed on the facade, on the dial of which there are 13 divisions, and the hands run backwards, and on the tag of clothes sold under the World’s End brand, you can still see a pirate saber and the inscription “Born in England” – “Born in England”. Then the Pirates collection itself began to be sold at 430 Kings Road, in the already updated World’s End store.

The Pirates collection was a first for Vivien – a first in many ways. Vivienne then felt like a fashion designer for the first time and for the first time she was called that. She first appeared on the podium at Olympia after the show. “I was wearing an old gray school sweater, I didn’t have time to make up, I almost missed the show, and Malcolm made me come on stage, saying:“ They want to see you for who you are, they want to make sure that you really gave it your all. It was at that time that Malcolm first managed to successfully link fashion and music, he agreed on sponsorship with the company that provides the most modern technologies, “Sony Walkman” (!), And showed the public his latest band – “Bow Vow Vow” in Vivienne’s pirate costumes. One of the models was immediately bought for the Victoria and Albert Museum. As John Galliano said, “it would be impossible to imagine bands, music and the spirit of punk and neo-romanticism without the work of Vivien.” “Pirates” became Vivienne’s next statement for posterity. The show was attended by Boy George; Adam Ent has already taken on the Healy/McLaren/Westwood pirate look, and “Steve Strange (club promoter) called his club the ‘Hero Club’, just like we used to call our clothes ‘hero clothes’ back at Seditionaries” and it helped the business a lot.” Club owners and regulars, such as Steve Strange and Leigh Bowery, were happy to buy and wear Vivienne’s clothes. Like club promoters Michael and Gerlinda Kostiff, who also came to her first show at Olympia: “The spectacle was simply incredible, magical – this has not been seen before. Everything breathed luxury, shone with gold and created a feeling of recklessness and heroism. An amazing show … Before him, all Vivien’s clothes were too black, and then all of a sudden these colors, shiny gold! Vivienne did indeed design clothes for heroes, as the sign on the store said, and heroism, according to Vivien’s idea, was part of an ongoing punk clothing campaign. “I don’t think it’s necessary to lock everything with locks. You can’t move people to change the world around them by showing them how miserable and humiliated they are … you need to make them feel great, and only then start changing.

“I am very literary,” Vivien repeated to me again one morning, “and I have literary ideas. For example, pirate pants are from some story. But not only they – even worn jeans give rise to the idea of some life baggage. If you wear old clothes, then you look like a person who has lived and your things breathe history. So the creation of pirate pants was a very important moment: a completely new image was born. I was looking for something and found it in a historical costume, so for me the moment came when I began to look back and look to the future at the same time. And it’s also quite important that I began to realize the essence of “aging” and “vintage” in clothes. Because with their help in fashion, you can also tell a story and hint at life experience. Malcolm played a critical role in the early stages and often provided ideas. But by the time Pirates was created, everything began to change, and by the time I was working on the Witches and Pancouture collections, I didn’t want to work with him at all. He spent most of his time in the States, and then appeared and interfered in my work, and I soon got tired of him commanding me.

It was then, during the creation of “Pirates”, that our creative paths diverged. You could say Malcolm gave the collection its name, and I gave it life. He was not around, I did everything myself, and he behaved like a father who abandoned his family. He offered some ideas on what to choose fabrics – with a pattern in the form of curls and printed with African patterns, which became our signature, but we saw it at my friend, fashion designer Jean Charles de Castelbajac, when Gary Ness somehow went to his studio. And then Malcolm stopped participating in the creative process.

I have to admit that I was partly interested to know if someone like me, who doesn’t represent a major fashion brand, can stay in this industry not only through good marketing, but through talent, hard work and word of mouth. From a practical point of view, I was interested in what fashion as a business can teach me. For fashion to make me survive in the business world. To better understand this world. So I approached this – as a task for ingenuity. Task for yourself. I set myself the goal of completely controlling the creation of models, I considered it my duty, because if I didn’t control everything myself, I would simply go with the flow. And I also felt something – I probably will seem crazy, but maybe I was like that – which can be expressed something like this: in addition to the intention to prove something to myself, there was a sense of duty in me. Debt towards the world of fashion, towards yourself. If I can do something, I must do it at any cost. Because if not me, then no one will. I am the same in politics. And as a child, she was like that when she said: “I did it.” I don’t know… That’s how I got into fashion, and although sometimes I had to work to the point of exhaustion, I don’t regret anything. On the contrary, I was able to prove to myself what I wanted, I get real pleasure from creating clothes and through it I can express my position. But if someone at 1979 came up to me and said, “Listen, Vivien, you are good at it, but I can do it just as well, I can do your job. And you go study,” I would probably answer: “Well, okay, I’ll go.”

“I had something to prove in material terms as well. And this, too, I will allow myself to tell now, and, I hope, my story will be useful to those who have ever been deceived or who have suffered from swindlers. It’s not that I don’t know how to handle money, no, I grew up in a store. Not in this case. I’m just too trusting and I assume that other people are as honest and hardworking as I am. Now I will explain why Michael Collins got away with it, even though he stole money from me for many years. Now I can already talk about it … I’m sorry that Michael is no longer alive, but now I can tell everything frankly. From the very first day when he started working in the store, he began to steal. He worked for me for at least 8 years and took every extra penny, but I still couldn’t understand why I didn’t succeed, why the balance didn’t converge, and I thought that I probably couldn’t count. Before Michael came, the store was doing very well. And then this stylish young man appeared, and I hired him. And on his first day in the store, I did not have a profit. I couldn’t understand why. He told me: “What a nightmare! Look, I have money, I don’t really have to work. My friend – and he, Michael, was gay – supports me. I will give you money. How much do you need?”

Well, he lent me money, and I thought, “What a cool guy!” and we were able to open the store again, but I wasn’t sure about the success of the enterprise, so I didn’t even have suspicions about him. Since then, I absolutely trusted Michael, and he kept saying: “You know, I’ll ask my friend to give us some money if you don’t have enough.” He was very charming. I believed him. But he gave me my own money! He didn’t have any friend. I was so naive. I didn’t keep proper records of goods and other things. This is how we worked. Believe it or not, this went on for eight years! Finally, the pattern maker Mark Tabard, who worked for me, said: “Vivien, this is unbearable: Michael is stealing all your money” – and everything immediately became clear to me. It’s embarrassing to remember, but that’s how it was.”

During this time, Malcolm worked first with the New York Dolls and then with The Sex Pistols and Bow Vow Vow. And I sewed clothes for Dolls and Pistols and even sent packages with things for Dolls to America. Still sometimes I sent money to Malcolm, back to America. That is, I had some funds, but they were barely enough to develop further, and I worked like a damn all the time. Malcolm began to complain to me that I was from Northern England, and therefore hopelessly stupid and gullible, irresponsible about business and can only work with my hands. We fought over this. That’s what he told me, though he himself behaved no better. As far as money was concerned, he was hopeless. He himself did not interfere in anything, but simply asked: “How are we with money?” – Well, and everything in that spirit. In fact, neither of us understood anything. At the same time, a few years after Malcolm said that I was to blame for everything, that I was stupid and did not know how to earn money, I helped him in many ways. We had money in the store for eight years, Malcolm was doing his musical projects, he lived in America and was interested in the emerging hip-hop, I sent him money, and he scolded me for not doing business well. Partly because of this, our breakup happened. None of us tried to end everything at once. Every time I wanted to leave, he managed to stop me…”

Late in 1979, Malcolm left Surley Court for the last time. Between him and Vivien there was no quarrel, no last frank conversation. As Joe put it, his father just picked up one day and didn’t come home. Malcolm’s thoughts were increasingly focused on America, the financial affairs of the family, as well as the World’s End store, were in critical condition, and partly because of this, Vivien took in a tenant – an old friend and store manager Gene Krell. Jean and Malcolm were very friendly, and Vivienne and Malcolm admired, as Vivien put it, “Gene’s gift for selling.” But the store “Granny Takes a Trip” was closed, Gene was penniless, and Vivienne took him to work and invited him to live with her. So how long it took Vivienne to recover from her breakup with Malcolm was witnessed by their mutual friend Gene, who, however, says that he looked at everything with a heroin-clouded eye, feeling only gratitude and love for Vivienne. After all, he believes that Vivienne, although she then had enough of her own problems, saved his life.

“At first I was addicted to heroin, and then, when I could no longer get heroin, I became addicted to alcohol. Vivien nursed me all this time. She has always been against drugs. I don’t know how she managed to keep up with a husband like Malcolm. When they parted, the level of anger of those around me reached the limit: people on King’s Road and in the nightclubs where I went showed hostility towards me because they felt like they had been betrayed. As if it was my fault that the sweet couple broke up. It seemed to affect them all. Vivien took charge of the business and the creative process. She had a lot of worries. We were talked about in the press like we were a huge company; that’s what we called ourselves in the language of advertisers, but bailiffs stood under our door. We could not pay the rent, they tried to close the store, and despite the threat of deportation, I refused to give the keys. Vivien was determined to keep the business and prove to herself, or maybe Malcolm, that she could do it. She stayed on Surley Court and literally re-stitched her life path. She became such a recluse that once a transvestite even came to the store, pretending to be Vivienne. That period was strange in many ways. We received many notes threatening to kill us. They came by mail. I don’t even know if Vivienne knows. The notes fell into four categories: from those who supported Malcolm, from those who supported Michael Collins, and also from bailiffs and letters that we were to blame for the moral decay of the nation. The latter were distinguished by the clearest formulations: “Eternal torment awaits you” – and the like. They are about Vivienne. Very personal messages. Of course, they would be treated much more seriously now than we did then. Perhaps even today Vivien has no idea of the danger she was in. But I didn’t tell her: she already had enough experiences. The atmosphere was the worst.”

The Pancouture show program features Blade Runner-inspired images

“Mom is always generous to Malcolm,” Joe remarks sadly. She is very kind to him. But understand, Malcolm left us with a lot of debt – mom, me and Ben, and this was our life, our home. True, he left not only debts, but also their assets with their mother of a common company. And he left us and went to America. They did not form a company as such and were considered partners, but he dropped everything. Left both debts and assets. At the time, World’s End and the new Nostalgia of Mud store were very risky to run. And Malcolm didn’t just leave. He finally destroyed everything. Tried to destroy. Somehow Vivien comes to work, and there Malcolm’s new girlfriend, in clothes sewn by her, tells everyone what to do, declares that now she is the “designer”, and Vivien no longer works here. And do you know who told her to arrange all this in the store? Malcolm. This is how my father was. So from my mother’s side, agreeing to put both names on the labels is damn generosity; it was not he who created these models in the first place, but she, especially since he tried to destroy everything when mom was fighting for survival. And he threw everything in the trash, tried to destroy her case and herself. He was such a person: if he could not get something, completely take possession of something, then he mercilessly threw it into the trash.

So, Ben and I started helping Vivienne and working at World’s End, but not because we wanted to make a career in fashion or sales. We just wanted to help mom. She didn’t have anything. And it’s mom! We were sitting in Clapham with no electricity, no telephone, no water or gas, because Malcolm turned everything off. But I had a few smart buddies who knew how to wire everything back up. And outside the door the bailiffs were waiting for them, several healthy bullies, and then I thought: “I’ll call my father.” And, I remember, I call him on a pay phone, and he asks from his Hollywood: “Do you have a home phone?”

Despite this, Vivienne always spoke kindly of Malcolm. Especially in conversations with me. But I knew that she did not reveal her true feelings. She said things that she didn’t think would upset me. This is how she is. She had a very hard time. Now we know everything. Malcolm’s version from now on sounded like this: “The only reason for Vivien’s success is acquaintance with Malcolm McLaren.” Yes, he is right, but only in the sense that he was the instigator. I think few people realize that Vivien created all the things – she was responsible for all the design. She designed all these cool punk rock t-shirts and I know they are a reflection of her, as a child I saw her make them right at our house on Searly Court – that’s how my mother was. We had a silk-screen printing machine and a table, the one that she now has in the studio, we ate at it, and it was always littered with things on which she printed a drawing. What about Malcolm’s contribution? Downplay the complexity of what she was doing: “Cutting potatoes again, right?” All the Seditionaries items, all the anarchist shirts, all of this was done by my mother, and in our apartment: she dyed them in the bathroom and printed designs on them in the living room. Week after week. Created things for the store.

“Maybe I need to explain something about Malcolm and me,” Vivienne said out of the blue as we looked at fabric samples and a slightly punk-inspired pattern. – Why I was psychologically and mentally ready to move on in our turbulent relationship. People are really surprised by this. He suddenly leaves, then suddenly changes his mind and comes back, then leaves again. It was exhausting. Much later, when the relationship became terrible, Malcolm even hired a lawyer and demanded 50,000 pounds from me . .. And when I finally found a way to get this amount, Malcolm refused to take the money and said: “Can’t you see? I want you to come back.” He played these games with me all the time – he didn’t show up at home and stuff like that. But I’ve gotten used to being angry at him. I used to hit Malcolm. And one day he hit me back. I didn’t raise my hand to him after that. But I hit first. But here I will tell it like it is: Malcolm brought me to tears. He had such a fad, and it took me a while to find a solution. He couldn’t leave the house without doing this. Without bringing me to tears.

But then the moment came when I just stopped crying: I couldn’t cry anymore. I have no tears left. I realized that the only way to get rid of him and make him stop the torture was to cry, that is, to give what he wanted from me. He wanted, probably, to make me feel bad, to hit harder. He kept trying to hurt me. Because he was in pain. That’s how he behaved – he didn’t leave the house until he somehow brought me to tears. Sometimes I just pissed off his character. In general, it was easier to give up, burst into tears so that he would stop torturing me. Later, I never really cried. At that moment, I stopped crying. And since then, to be honest, I have never cried. She cried out all she could. I think people usually cry for themselves, and then the moment came when I realized that I had had enough.

Joe agrees. Until now, when talking with Joe and Ben, when they remember those years, it becomes clear how relieved they felt when Vivien and Malcolm finally broke up, although Joe says that his mother was far from a rag: “In the end, their relationship became just terrible. Every morning only squealing, screaming and screeching. And we were just waiting for Malcolm to finally leave home. In the end, every morning Vivienne kind of forced herself to cry, because she knew that then he would leave and it would all be over, and we could start our day. Malcolm was a disgusting badass. A classic example of some flawed, unhealthy relationship – they were mutually dependent on each other, and he, forcing his mother to cry, felt . .. in short, he received the emotions he needed. It wasn’t easy for Vivienne to hit back, but you always knew exactly when you’d gone too far. Not that word! Mom could hit so that sparks fell from her eyes. I remember one time we were on the subway, around that period of their relationship… I don’t know if this episode will show how angry she could get… Anyway, she had an office in Camden and our train always stopped between Mornington Crescent and Camden. Once we were traveling together, and in the carriage some girls were mocking an Indian woman. They said something disgusting in a racist spirit, like: “It stinks of curry in here.” That woman could not stand it and got up to get out of the car, but the train got stuck in the tunnel, and then one of the girls took out a huge booger from her nose and wiped it on her sari. The woman turned and asked, “Why are you doing this to me?” Then Vivienne answered and answered: “Because they are ugly brought up.” Then the train started moving, we got up to get off, but one of the girls tripped the Indian woman . .. Then Vivienne grabbed the girl by the kerchiefs and hit her in the face so that a torn tuft of hair remained in her hand. Then, when she got off the train, she was shaking. But she taught that girl a good lesson. Yes, Vivienne can hit hard!”

“That’s my theory,” Vivienne continues. – The more suffering in your relationship, the stronger the feeling of betrayal when they collapse. I put everything into my relationship with Malcolm. Because of Joe and because Malcolm needed me. And also, perhaps, because there was a little love. So when I realized that it was all over, when he left and at some point he had another girlfriend, and not just a passing crush, I felt cheated and like I died for four years. Yes, for four years my soul was dead. Until I had another love, perhaps that’s what you can call it – Carlo. Almost four years. I was burned with a sense of betrayal, I suffered a lot of pain in my relationship with Malcolm, it’s all about that. This is the main reason for my suffering. Do not have another one. I suffered not because I wanted him to return: that was the last thing I wanted. But, you see, I was very upset by his departure. It’s weird, you keep coming back to your past, trying to figure it out, and some things just drive you crazy, but one thing I knew for sure: I didn’t want him back. No thanks. For many years we saw each other at social events, but for a long time after the breakup, we did not see each other in private. I remember that ten years have passed, and we met, and he must have been very surprised, realizing that I was pleased to see him. And it was nice because I was happy to find that I no longer have any feelings for him. He always liked me, he always interested me. But what a relief I felt when I realized that he could no longer hurt me. So I was happy to see him.”

“Shortly after our breakup, people, since no one doubted that we had broken up, began to ask who was the main one in our couple – Malcolm or me. Malcolm was quite envious, and of course he was jealous of me, so he always tried to show that I was nothing. That I am his cutter, as he called me, his creation. They called him Svengali, referring to “The Sex Pistols”. He himself tried to maintain a reputation as a magician when it came to punk, The Sex Pistols, and our work with him. And I really didn’t care. I treated him condescendingly, even felt sorry for him, because he behaved so petty. By the way, if you create something, you are always impressed by the work of others! It certainly impresses me. And you don’t think that your creations, especially if they come easy to you, are somehow important. So it was with Malcolm and me. I trusted Malcolm in everything, just helped him do what he wanted, starting with the idea of returning to image 1950s: I was very interested in rock and roll, and also the opportunity to sell this image again. Malcolm had great ideas, but he never, never said to me, “No, that’s bad. Do it like this.” Never, because he was not a practitioner. And my friends said to me: “Vivien, the Women’s Emancipation Movement would be very ashamed of you, because you do all these things and at the same time attribute all the credit to him. Woman, what are you doing? “But why?! Vivienne, why are you giving him this? Why don’t you admit how smart you really are? But, you see, Malcolm is a very talented man. He had good ideas, such as wearing underwear over other things as outerwear. This is what Malcolm came up with. And this idea is attributed to me, Gauthier, Madonna and others. But actually, that’s what Malcolm and I did. Such ideas and their implementation were really good. Malcolm could start my creative process, even, for example, send me something, some images that would inspire me. And so he did. He was also very good with shoes. Perhaps our relationship can be explained by the example of the exhibition held at the Victoria and Albert Museum. When the Witches collection was on display, Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren were listed as the creators, but in fact, Malcolm made only one thing for her – a hat with a pointed crown in the style of comedian Chico Marx. He brought the museum’s curator and cataloger to tears and a nervous breakdown. Almost every day, he sent her letters, written in legal language, in which he wrote: “You are absolutely wrong. You violated my copyrights by holding this exhibition because I am the designer of these clothes, not Vivien” – and many other words like that. In a letter to the curator, he called me his cutter.

Joe agrees that his father was especially hostile when it came to authoring their work. Years later, Joe experienced it himself when, about to open the Agent Provocateur brand, he raised funds for this, recreating some of the things invented by his parents. Mom immediately agreed; and Malcolm threatened to sue. “Then I realized what kind of person he was and how he treated my mother. He took a perverse pleasure in belittling others, including my mother and me. On all the tags, I smeared his name with a stroke. It was a kind of metaphor. I haven’t spoken to him in years.”

“I think he couldn’t help it,” says Vivien. “He envied me, and then Joe. He went crazy when it came to public recognition – he himself badly needed it. Recognition was the most important thing for him. Even more than Joe and me. In fact, I went out of my way for years to give Malcolm his due, often more than he deserved, but at the time it was easier for me. You see, Malcolm treasured his reputation and heritage very much and defended them zealously. He ended up sabotaging everything I did. I never really talked about it much and still haven’t had the opportunity to honestly admit it, but since Malcolm is no more, I can say that he behaved incredibly cruelly. Both professionally and personally – in all. True, at the end of his life he had serious problems, and it still saddens me. Because I once loved him and remained devoted to him. Until his death.

I think there comes a point in a relationship when you realize that you’ve learned everything you could from your partner. Malcolm fascinated me with his intellect, but as the years went on, the relationship deteriorated greatly due to his temper and envy, so boredom took over. Malcolm never finished reading a book. I took it, read for about forty minutes, then found something valuable in it that could be sold – just snatched out something that you would not have noticed in your life if you read normally, like everyone else! But it was enough for him if, after a short reading, he could come up with some kind of theory or boast of new information. Malcolm splashed in the shallow water. He was not really interested in learning anything, he was only interested in what could be used, sold, what could shock or impress. So I ended up getting bored with him. I was tired of hearing the same thoughts, I was tired of his same approach to everything. I really got tired of it. Of course others have noticed. There’s a tape of Malcolm and I being interviewed, probably in the early 80’s, because I’m wearing a Buffalo Girls skirt. Then we had already parted, but we maintained a professional relationship, but I was so bored with Malcolm that during the interview I kept fiddling with my hem and thinking: “If only you would shut up. ” And then Simon Barker asked: “Vivien, were you intentionally cold with him, or were you just completely uninterested in what he said? Everyone noticed it.”

Invitation to show the “Witches” collection. It’s a Keith Haring creation

After my intellectual interest in Malcolm dried up, our relationship went downhill, and that’s why it kept going. At first, Malcolm helped me sort out problematic issues, especially political ones. How was I to understand what was happening in the world? And he knew much more than I did. He studied at an art college, they developed various serious ideas there: about the underground and alternative people, about everything that gave rise to the hippie movement in 1968 year. But as soon as I realized that Malcolm is who he is, everything was over. He stopped in development, got stuck in 1968. Didn’t dig deeper. Was not ready to try to understand the world in which he lived. He preferred to live on superficial knowledge and use it to manipulate the people around him. At some point, I had nothing to learn from him, I realized that I was no longer growing, being next to him, and our dialogue stopped. Malcolm was in some ways more conservative. I remember when I was doing the Pancouture collection, he said that a cotton skirt would look much better if it were made of silk, and I suddenly objected: “Malcolm, maybe you are right. Maybe it would be nice. But this is no worse, and I like it better this way. He was right only in the sense that it would have made the skirt look more like a high fashion item, and I think my previous collections had silk and stuff that Malcolm would have insisted on. It’s funny, but Malcolm loved chic. But after the collection “Pirates” I realized that I no longer want to work with him – I wanted to embody my ideas myself. Our names stood side by side on the labels, but more and more works were only mine. The last time we worked together was on the Pancouture collection. During the making of The Witches, we broke off relations completely.

“Witches” (Autumn/Winter 1983) was entirely my own idea. I was in New York and there I got acquainted with the work of Keith Haring – and with Keith himself. His graffiti looked like hieroglyphs. For symbols. A barking dog or a baby with a glow around its head is a visual language of symbols that seemed magical to me. He seemed terribly pleased to hear from me that I really liked his work, and in the Witches collection I used many of his ideas, because he was glad to work with me. I don’t really follow contemporary art, but there are some works that I think are really relevant, and that, in my opinion, was the work of Keith Haring. It was impossible not to recognize him as an artist. He knew how to convey his thoughts to others, and his work attracted attention. A year after we met, he contracted AIDS and died. He was one of the best people – always friendly, pleasant, generous and truly talented. If he had not died, I am sure: with his talent, he would have managed to go beyond graffiti. In general, “Witches” was somewhat inspired by his work and color: blue, like firework paper, mauve, like firelighter paper, fluorescent, like his graffiti. And there was also a dirty green, almost black – it reflected that period of my life and partly the history of Keith’s life. Haring also drew a face with three eyes. And a square with three eyes. At that time, hip-hop was gaining popularity, something like a freeze frame in a dance, it could be reflected in clothes, for example, by placing three tongues on sneakers. I was the first to make sneakers a runway shoe, and for good reason: it was in line with the new trends, the graffiti that flooded New York and London, and the “cartoon” dances – I told about all this through fashion.

Gradually, my self-confidence began to return. I finally found out that I had talent, and the appearance of my punk-inspired pieces on the Parisian catwalks gave me confidence. I saw how things change there. Hairstyles are changing. Even Vogue is changing. I began to be taken seriously. For example, I visited Grace Coddington from London Vogue. I came to her with a suitcase of things I created, and she was embarrassed by the clothes that I showed her, which did not interest her at all. I remember thinking: at least she saw that the design was good. I put small boots on the table in front of her, turned into pirate boots: they looked unusual. Now they met all over the world – and in Paris too. But then she said this: “No, no, look for another magazine.” So I went to the Ritz and they put me on the cover. By the way, Grace, even though she rejected me, was wearing an exact copy of the mohair sweater that I designed!

Caroline Baker (according to Vivien, “an amazing stylist”; she worked first for Vogue and then for Westwood) says that it was only after Terry Jones left Vogue and helped found i-D magazine that dedicated to street fashion and its impact on our lives, British Vogue realized they had missed it. “I loved what Vivienne was doing,” says Caroline, “her work seemed a natural and obvious reflection of the chaos that was happening in the political life of the country, so it was foolish for Vogue and other publications to ignore them. Her first two collections were my favorites, Pirates and Buffalo Girls. They were like dishes prepared for us: appetizing, simple, appearing before us as if by magic. I became a little rastaman – the same were the images from the collection “Girls from Buffalo”: puffy skirts, rastaman hats, hairstyles with careless curls: we found an ancient hair curling technique when strands are wound around cotton ribbons. Vivien came up with all this.”

Vivienne (back row, center) and her staff at Nostalgia of Mud in St. Christopher, 1982

“So by 1982 or 83 I was working alone. I had a cutter and two seamstresses. But even things had to be tried on by myself. I realized that if you want a thing to sit well and correctly, there is nothing better than putting it on yourself. I still think so. I’m so used to it. But at the time, it was very, very hard for me.

So I started designing models myself and running the company myself, organizing production and everything else turned out to be terribly difficult. I knew what it was. I was on my own, and although the press was crazy about what we were doing, before the release of the collections “Mini Crini” (“Mini Crini”) and “Harris Tweed” we had ten extremely difficult years.

When the couple’s relationship fell apart, Vivien’s first attempt was to expand the company and opened her first West End store, Nostalgia of Mud in St. Christopher’s shopping area off Oxford Street. The store got its name as a tribute to the romantic idea of the French, who idealized poverty. The interior evoked no less reaction than the clothes presented in it, but it was combined with Vivien’s chosen palette of earthy shades and voodoo cult attributes: this style immediately hit the catwalk, the design was copied for modern theatrical productions in Great Britain. “The store was like an archaeological site. I was responsible for the concept. Me and Roger Burton,” Vivienne says. “There were Miss Havisham-style chandeliers, little things I kept in my little car, and I had the idea of making stuffed crows out of wood and thick planks, and that’s how I met Tom Binns. The second of the two stores I designed myself was on Davis Street. But I loved Nostalgia of Mud, and it shaped public opinion.” The store gave the name of the clothing collection “Nostalgia of Mud” (“Nostalgia for the Mud”), however, because of the floor-length Bolivian skirts presented in it and the accompanying soundtrack “Buffalo Girls” it is often called “Girls from Buffalo”. The store only lasted two years, falling victim to Vivienne and Malcolm’s breakup. Despite this, the Buffalo Girls collection was shown in Paris and won universal acclaim. With her began the period of Vivien’s creativity, for the first time independent: it had an unprecedented impact on the fashion world. The New Romance, with its loose shirts and skirts, belts and luxurious fabrics, was just the beginning. The dirty color palette and worn felts of the Buffalo Girls collection were copied by the entire fashion world – they were equally seen in mass fashion, in clubwear collections and on the catwalks. The free cut and muted colors of Vivienne’s things really liked the Japanese, and the image of a tramp in torn clothes was immediately adopted by the Comme des Gar?ons brand, becoming its hallmark.

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Westwood Knowledge Beginnings | Daycare, Preschool & Early Education in Westwood, MA

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Recent stories by Lee Hutchinson

Vivienne Westwood. British Fashion Grandmother

Male role

Inspirer

Vivien’s first boutique

Birth of style

Fat queens with tattoos

4 facts about Vivienne Westwood

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70s. Outrageous start and creation of a new style

80s. Provocative rebellion

90s. Ironic historicism

2000s. Present and future

Vivienne Westwood’s interview with Tim Blanks (published in Interview magazine on July 19, 2012)

Vivienne Westwood (Interview with Time Out-London, 2008)

Career Vivten Westwood

Achievements Vivienne Westwood

Personal life Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne Westwood quotes

Ecology and politics are the theme of the show of new works by the famous designer and grandmother of the punk movement.

Vivienne Westwood about style and fashion — Women’s magazine “GOLDEN”

Naked anarchy Vivienne Westwood: 10 facts from the life of an 80-year-old punk grandmother

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