Final photo of Vivienne Westwood shared with fans before legendary designer’s death

THE last photo of Vivienne Westwood shared with fans has emerged following the death of the iconic fashion designer.

The designer and activist died “peacefully and surrounded by her family” in Clapham, South London, earlier today, according to a Twitter post by her label.

5

5

5

An image of her was posted to her Instagram page towards the end of November.

In the photograph, Westwood is looking typically defiant with her right hand in a fist.

The accompanying caption said: “Vivienne wearing our Karla Apron dress, patterned with both our custom ‘Ermine Roses’ print and ‘Trellis’ artwork.⁠

Tributes for the designer have already flooded in.

Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock, a former worker at the shop in Chelsea owned by Malcolm McLaren and Westwood, said on Twitter: “I have just heard the sad news about a one off, single minded, talented lady. A privilege to have rubbed shoulders with her in the mid ‘70s at the birth of punk and the waves it created that still resound today for the disaffected. My thoughts are with her friends and family.”

“Vivienne is gone and the world is already a less interesting place,” tweeted Chrissie Hynde, the frontwoman of the Pretenders and another former employee.

Singer Boy George wrote on Twitter: “R.I.P to the great and inspiring Vivienne Westwood who lead us through punk and beyond. Laughed at by the fashion industry but without question she is the undisputed Queen of British fashion. I love you! Oh bondage up yours!”

TV presenter Jonathan Ross said: “RIP the great Vivienne Westwood. Unique. Brilliant. Uncompromising. Thanks Viv x”

Former Spice Girl and fashion designer Victoria Beckham wrote on Instagram: ““I’m so sad to learn of the passing of legendary designer and activist Dame Vivienne Westwood. My thoughts are with her family at this incredibly sad time.”

Yoko Ono tweeted: “Rest in peace, Vivienne. What a woman – so young at heart, motivated, beautiful and elegant. Our love and deepest condolences.”

Sex And The City actress Kim Cattrall shared an anecdote about Dame Vivienne Westwood on Instagram, saying the designer was a “true genius who never lost her northern grit”.

Cattrall went to say: “Short story – An LA stylist had sent me 3 dresses from various designers for the London/Berlin/NY premiers of a film.

“The clothes arrived at my London hotel unclean, were unflattering and in need of alteration.

“I was crest fallen until a mutual friend took me immediately to see @viviennewestwood atelier and Vivienne made me a new dress in 3 days and 2 others beside for each of the upcoming openings.

“I’ve never forgotten her generosity and kindness in making that happen and saving the day.

“RIP Vivienne. You are a legend. Kx”.

American fashion designer Marc Jacobs said he was “heartbroken” at the news of Dame Vivienne Westwood’s death.

Read Related Also: IN judge considers unsealing evidence, adjusting bond for Richard Allen, Delphi murder suspect

In a post on Instagram, he wrote: “Heartbroken.

“You did it first. Always. Incredible style with brilliant and meaningful substance.

“I continue to learn from your words, and, all of your extraordinary creations. I will always remember the night we bonded over our mutual love for Yves Saint Laurent.

“You never failed to surprise and to shock. I am grateful for the moments I got to share with you and Andreas.

“Rest in Peace dear Vivienne, although, somehow peace seems like the wrong word.”

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) described Dame Vivienne as a “true revolutionary and rebellious force in fashion”.

Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan paid tribute to Dame Vivienne Westwood, writing on Twitter: “A sad day, Vivienne Westwood was and will remain a towering figure in British fashion.

“Her punk style rewrote the rule book in the 1970s and was widely admired for how she stayed true to her own values throughout her life.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted: “Vivienne Westwood was a creative icon who helped cement the UK at the very forefront of modern fashion. My thoughts are with her family and friends.”

Westwood’s fashion career took off in the 1970s with the punk explosion, when her radical approach to urban street style took the world by storm.

But she went on to enjoy a long career highlighted by a string of triumphant runway shows in London, Paris, Milan and New York.

The name Westwood became synonymous with style and attitude even as she shifted focus from year to year.

As her stature grew, she seemed to transcend fashion, with her designs shown in museum collections throughout the world.

The young woman who had scorned the British establishment eventually became one of its leading lights, and she used her elite position to lobby for environmental reforms even as she kept her hair dyed the bright shade of orange that became her trademark.

Andrew Bolton, curator of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of New York, said Westwood would be celebrated for pioneering the punk look, pairing a radical fashion approach with the anarchic punk sounds developed by the Sex Pistols, managed by her then-partner, Malcolm McLaren.

“They gave the punk movement a look, a style, and it was so radical it broke from anything in the past,” he said. “The ripped shirts, the safety pins, the provocative slogans. She introduced postmodernism. It was so influential from the mid-70s. The punk movement has never dissipated it’s become part of our fashion vocabulary. Its mainstream now.”

Westwood’s long career was full of contradictions: She was a lifelong rebel who was honoured several times by Queen Elizabeth II.

She dressed like a teenager even in her 60s and became an outspoken advocate of fighting global warming, warning of planetary doom if climate change was not controlled.

“She was always trying to reinvent fashion. Her work is provocative, its transgressive. It’s very much rooted in the English tradition of pastiche and irony and satire. She is very proud of her Englishness, and still she sends it up,” Bolton said.

5

5