Vivienne Westwood
Vivienne Westwood and her partner, Malcolm McLaren, open the shop Let It Rock at 430 Kings Road, Chelsea in London as a showcase for their ideas.
At a time when the hippy movement was in full swing and Rock 'n' Roll was not even played on the radio, they sold Fifties Rock 'n' Roll records and memorabilia as well as stock of Fifties inspired designs.
Young people came to the shop from all over the country fuelling a revival of the period as Elvis Presley was making a comeback.
The shop is redecorated and its name changed to 'Too Fast to Live, Too Young to die' reflecting a shift of interest to rockers and black urban culture.
The shop sells leather clothing adorned with zips and chains, tee shirts emblazoned with slogans and pornographic images as well as zoot suits worn by Black Americans in the Fifties.
The shop name is changed to 'Sex' and sells rubber S&M clothing, ripped clothes and tee-shirts with pornographic text and images. Vivienne Westwood designs clothes for the band the New York Dolls.
Punk style is born with the band the Sex Pistols who play their first gig wearing clothes from the shop at 430 Kings Road which has by now been renamed 'Seditonaries'.
The clothes represented the culmination of the ideas that had pervaded Vivienne Westwood's work up to that time. Zips, rips, chains, bondage, porn and slogans all featured to give a look that would have a revolutionary impact on high fashion still felt to this day.
The 'Pirate' collection was Vivienne Westwood's first runway show presented at Olympia in London in March 1981. She is no longer solely interested in youth and street culture but also in tradition and technique.
She begins her technical research into historical dress with this collection, adopting and reinterpreting original cutting principles into her patterns and making them modern.
The shop at 430 King's Road is once again redecorated and renamed World's End, which it remains to this day. The collection includes asymmetric tee-shirts, petti-drawers, pirate shirts and breeches in rich brocades and ikat fabric.
The models in the show carry Walkmans and dance to ethnic and rap music. They wear baggy round the ankle flat heel boots, henna ringlets and gold teeth.
The collection is about gold and treasure, adventure and exploration.
Vivienne Westwood shows her 'Nostalgia of Mud' collection in Paris, the first English designer to do so since Mary Quant. She opens her first shop in a central London location, Nostalgia of Mud.
The collaboration with Malcolm McLaren ends. Vivienne Westwood presents her 'Witches' collection in which she continues to work with ethnic inspirations and geometrical cuts.
Vivienne Westwood presents her 'Hypnos' and 'Clint Eastwood' collections.
At the height of big shoulders and power dressing, Vivienne Westwood unveils her 'Mini Crini' collection and declares her love for feminine power. She emphasises the small waist instead of the shoulders by drawing attention to the hips with a short swinging crinoline, the 'criniscule', or puffball skirt. The shoulder is reduced to its natural size by means of the classic proportions of English tailoring using princess lines, which can be worn over the crini. This important move redefines Vivienne Westwood's vision as a designer, English tailoring remaining to this day the foundation of her work.
Ten years on from 1977 and punk rock, Vivienne Westwood returns to the London catwalks after an absence of five years to show her 'Harris Tweed' collection. This collection is inspired by the look of the Queen, Elizabeth II, in her teenage years. She had already been the object of Westwood's attention in 1977 when she adorned tee-shirts sporting a safety pin through her nose.
Ten years on, however, the antagonistic jibe at the establishment is gone to give way to a more embracing parody of that most English of ladies.
Following on from the ÔMini CriniÕ collection, the emphasis in 'Harris Tweed' is on a return to the traditional fit of English tailoring.
Princess line coats and jackets in Harris Tweed and velvet are worn with fine knitwear twin-sets and an 18th Century corset, for the first time reworked for ready-to-wear, both teamed with pearls.
The rocking horse platform shoes which, for Vivienne Westwood, symbolised putting women on a pedestal underscore the feminine and slightly childish look of the collection.
Vivienne Westwood opens a second London shop in the exclusive district of Mayfair.
John Fairchild, President of Fairchild Publications and Editor of the fashion bible Women's Wear Daily, rates Vivienne Westwood in his book 'Chic Savages' one of the six best designers in the world, the only woman amongst them.
The 'Portrait' collection shown in 1990 is of particular importance for Vivienne Westwood. For this collection she carefully chose each fabric as a painter would select elements of a dress for a portrait.
Westwood shows her 'Cut, Slash & Pull' and 'Dressing Up' collections.
Westwood is made Honorary Senior Fellow at the Royal College of Art, London. It is around that period that, for the first time, she takes inspiration from 20th Century couture, especially Christian Dior, (in collections such as 'Salon', 'Always on Camera' and 'Grand Hotel').
Westwood designs her own tartan for her 'Anglomania' collection. It is called MacAndreas after her husband, Andreas Kronthaler.
For her spring / summer 1994 collection, "Cafe Society", Westwood is inspired by the period between 1890 and 1910, especially the French style of that time.
With 'Vive la Cocotte', a collection inspired by Ninon de l'Enclos, Westwood combines and re-works the ideas which have defined her last five collections. The interchange of fashion influences between France and England is evident.
Westwood designs all the costumes for the production of The Three Penny Opera by Bertold Brecht and Kurt Weill, performed at the Burgtheater, Vienna.
Westwood presents her 'Vive La Bagatelle' and 'Five Centuries Ago' collections.
Westwood launches her first scent 'Boudoir', developed in conjunction with the world-famous 'nose', Martin Gras of Dragoco.
Westwood's first US flagship store opens in the Soho district of New York.
Westwood presents her 'summertime' and 'winter' collections.
Westwood presents her 'Exploration' and 'Wild Beauty' collections.
Westwood presents her 'Nymphs' and 'Anglophilia' collections.
