Vivienne Westwood: Tributes for 'Queen of British Fashion' after her death

Derbyshire-born Westwood worked as a primary school teacher, before setting up clothing shop Let It Rock on King's Road in Chelsea with her then partner Malcolm McLaren in the early 1970s.

Vivienne Westwood: Tributes for 'Queen of British Fashion' after her death

Following Dame Vivienne Westwood's passing, tributes to the "undisputed Queen of British fashion" have poured in.

According to a statement from her design brand, she passed away in London "peacefully and accompanied by her family."

Westwood, 81, gained notoriety in the 1970s for her contentious punk and new wave looks and went on to dress some of the biggest names in fashion.

Marc Jacobs, a fellow designer, expressed his "heartbreak" and remarked that she "never failed to surprise and shock."

Paying tribute to her life and work, he wrote on Instagram: "You did it first. Always... I continue to learn from your words and all of your extraordinary creations."

Bella Hadid, a model who graced the final Westwood runway during Paris Fashion Week in October, called the designer "the sun" of the industry and expressed gratitude for being in her orbit.

Rest in love and rest in peace, Hadid added, "to the coolest, most fun, incredible, modest, creative, badass, clever, EPIC human being that has walked this earth."

Andreas Kronthaler, Westwood's spouse and artistic collaborator, declared after the announcement: "I shall carry Vivienne in my heart.

We worked till the very end, and she gave me lots of tasks to complete.

Westwood rose to fame thanks to her rebellious stance toward the establishment, androgynous designs, and slogan T-shirts.

 She was also known as a staunch activist and brought causes she cared about, like climate change, to the catwalk.

The designer was made a dame for services to fashion in 2006.

Derbyshire-born Westwood worked as a primary school teacher, before setting up clothing shop Let It Rock on King's Road in Chelsea with her then partner Malcolm McLaren in the early 1970s.

The business was later renamed Sex and McLaren began managing a punk rock band made up of shop regulars - the Sex Pistols. They shot to fame in 1976 wearing Westwood and McLaren's designs.

One shop worker was a young American who went on to front the Pretenders. Paying tribute, musician Chrissie Hynde said with Westwood gone, the world was "already a less interesting place".

Singer Boy George, who first met Westwood in the early 1980s, called her "great and inspiring" and "without question... the undisputed Queen of British fashion".

Fashion designer and Spice Girl Victoria Beckham said she was a "legendary designer and activist".

Actress Kim Catrall described her on Instagram as a "true genius who never lost her Northern grit". She shared a tale of Westwood's "generosity and kindness" - creating three dresses for the Sex and the City star in three days so she could attend premieres of a film, after others' designs were unsuitable.

Westwood's "unique voice will be irreplaceable and missed," wrote supermodel Claudia Schiffer. Singer Billy Idol, who rose to fame on the London punk music scene, tweeted: "RIP it will take me a bit to take this in."

A "truly revolutionary and rebellious force in fashion," in the words of the Victoria and Albert Museum, which displays some of her creations.

A sad day, Vivienne Westwood was and will continue to be a towering presence in British fashion, tweeted Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan on Twitter.

"In the 1970s, her punk style rewrote the rules, and she was widely acclaimed for how she lived her life in accordance with her own principles."

In 1981, Westwood held her first proper fashion show remembered as the Pirate Collection, and she continued to use British and French history to inspire her.

She married Kronthaler, a former student of hers and 25 years her junior, in 1992. He became creative director of her company and increasingly was responsible for design work in later years.

By the 2000s, Westwood was creating wedding gowns for celebrities like Princess Eugenie and model Dita Von Teese, who wore his creations to the nuptials of Prince William and Catherine. Von Teese wed Marilyn Manson in a purple Westwood gown.

The Sex And The City movie from 2008 also featured some of her designs.

Her nine-inch platform shoes, which famously caused model Naomi Campbell to trip, made for memorable runway moments.

Along with climate change, Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, is battling extradition to the US to answer to charges under the Espionage Act. Westwood has become a vocal supporter of Assange's release. She issued a warning regarding an Assange "stitch up" in a massive bird cage while wearing canary yellow in July 2020.

Assange's wife Stella praised Westwood as a "pillar of the anti-establishment" after wearing a bridal gown made by the designer. She said that Westwood was a "wonderful friend" and "the best of Britain" in a letter on behalf of her husband, who is presently being held in Belmarsh Prison.