Vivienne Westwood - From Punk to Premiere

Vivienne Westwood has certainly established quite a strong foundation in her own right. But this has not been easy for her at all. For decades and decades, Westwood has done so much to garner this strong reputation for herself. For starters, she co-founded the punk style in the international arena of fashion. She has also managed to work with a lot of big names in the industry over the years, too. What's more, she has also bagged a number of awards for Best Designer of the Year.

A short glance at her credentials would clearly show you the reason why she remains at the top of the list of fashion designers, in spite of her age, having hit the prime of 66 already.

Vivienne Westwood was born Vivienne Isabel Swire in Glossopdale, Derbyshire, way back in April 8, 1941. Her father hailed from generations and generations of shoemakers, while her mother had a weaving job in the cotton mills that was located locally. Growing up exposed to the basics of fashion can certainly be credited as attributes to Westwood's firm grasp of fashion sense.

It was in the 1950s when Westwood starting making her own design, as a teenager. She actually customized her uniform for school to come up with her very own design of a pencil skirt. Since then, Westwood started conceptualizing her own designs for her clothes. But 1965 saw a pivotal point in Westwood's life. It was during this time that Westwood met Malcolm McLaren, and both immediately formed a partnership that was going to be dubbed as one of the most creative collaborations in the industry of fashion ever. That partnership lasted for roughly 13 years, from 1970 all the way through 1983, and this saw the launching of Punk. This particular style was epitomized by The Sex Pistols, one of the prominent punk rock bands to have formed in the music industry ever. At the time, punk clothes did not come as cheap clothes at all. But the collaboration of Westwood and McLaren brought forth more punk clothes that could be bought at relatively lower prices.

At present, Vivienne Westwood has turned her attention to a more toned-down look, which includes cufflinks and premiere silk ties. Nonetheless, Westwood's charm and wit are still very much visible in her silk ties. How many times have you stained the blade of your tie with coffee and such over dinner? And how many times have you said, "Oops!" when this happened? This is actually one of the many trademark designs of Vivienne Westwood's ties, with what appears to be beverage stains at the tips of her ties.

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