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Vivienne Isabel Swire
was born in Glossop, Derbyshire, in 1941. Although she made her own clothes and experimented with her looks from an early age she had little access to the high culture of art galleries, art books and theatre which was to inform her later career. At the age of 16 she moved with her family from northern England to Harrow, Middlesex, where she embarked on a silversmithing and jewellery-making course at Harrow School of Art. Impatient to earn a wage, however, she left Harrow abruptly, completed a typing course and found a job as a secretary. It was not until her mid-thirties that Westwood returned to fashion, by which time she had started work as a primary school teacher, married her first husband, Derek Westwood, and had her first child, Ben.
Vivienne
In 1965 Westwood met Malcolm McLaren, with whom she had a second son,
Joseph (who owns and runs the underwear label Agent Provocateur) and who retriggered her interest in fashion and experimentation with her image. McLaren, a dynamic and radical character whom Westwood regarded as “fascinating and mad”, introduced her to a plethora of new political and artistic ideas which continue to influence her work today. Their partnership flourished both professionally and as a romance: McLaren had his finger on the pulse of contemporary culture and Westwood the creative flare to translate his ideas into clothing.
Westwood
was born in Glossop, Derbyshire, in 1941. Although she made her own clothes and experimented with her looks from an early age she had little access to the high culture of art galleries, art books and theatre which was to inform her later career. At the age of 16 she moved with her family from northern England to Harrow, Middlesex, where she embarked on a silversmithing and jewellery-making course at Harrow School of Art. Impatient to earn a wage, however, she left Harrow abruptly, completed a typing course and found a job as a secretary. It was not until her mid-thirties that Westwood returned to fashion, by which time she had started work as a primary school teacher, married her first husband, Derek Westwood, and had her first child, Ben.
Vivienne
In 1965 Westwood met Malcolm McLaren, with whom she had a second son,
Joseph (who owns and runs the underwear label Agent Provocateur) and who retriggered her interest in fashion and experimentation with her image. McLaren, a dynamic and radical character whom Westwood regarded as “fascinating and mad”, introduced her to a plethora of new political and artistic ideas which continue to influence her work today. Their partnership flourished both professionally and as a romance: McLaren had his finger on the pulse of contemporary culture and Westwood the creative flare to translate his ideas into clothing.
Westwood
