Anarchy in UK: Iconic Designer Vivienne Westwood Turns 80

The daughter of a shoe-maker, the ex-wife of the Sex Pistols manager, and the creator of Britain’s most provocative clothing - this is all about Vivienne Westwood, the renowned fashion designer who set the style for modern punk and new wave music.

Westwood started with designing T-shirts with provocative messages but then turned to leather, biker clothing, zips, and all sorts of hard-core ideas. She overhauled the concept in the Eighties, significantly changing her image and switching to something more archaic and conventional, rather than disturbing and provocative.

One thing has not changed though - Vivienne is still down for changing her hair colour. It's orange now, by the way.

Check out Sputnik's photo gallery to explore Westwood's selected and revolutionary works.

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Born in the village of Tintwistle, Derbyshire in 1941, Vivienne and her family moved to Harrow in the county of Middlesex, where she started working at a local factory at the age of 17. Westwood acknowledges applause after presenting her Fall-Winter 2005-2006 ready-to-wear collection, in Paris Tuesday, 1 March 2005.

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Before starting off in fashion, Westwood worked as a schoolteacher. Here a model wearing mini-knickers carries a bouquet of flowers as part of Vivienne Westwood's 1995 Spring Summer Ready to Wear Collection presented in Paris, France on 12 October 1994.

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Everything changed when she met future manager of the punk band the Sex Pistols, Malcolm McLaren, in 1965. Together they ran a boutique dubbed Sex. Here, Vivienne Westwood, right, kisses a model as she takes the applause at the end of her ready-to-wear spring-summer 2011 fashion collection, in Paris, Friday 1 October 2010.

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Models present creations by students of the British star fashion designer and outgoing professor Vivienne Westwood at Berlin's University of the Arts on Saturday, 2 July 2005. Westwood was a professor at the university for 12 years.

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Westwood has been a supporter of Julian Assange for many years and even visited him while the WikiLeaks founder was claiming political asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Here, Westwood stands in a giant bird cage in protest against the extradition of the WikiLeaks founder to the US, outside the Old Bailey, in London, Tuesday, 21 July 2020.

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A model shows a creation from British designer Vivienne Westwood as part of her Fall-Winter ready-to-wear 2012 fashion collection, presented in Paris, Friday, 4 March 2011.

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The Nineties were all about against-the-rule-attitude fashion, so was Westwood. Left, model Grace from Sudan poses backstage ahead of the show from British designer Vivienne Westwood as part of her Fall-Winter ready-to-wear 2012 fashion collection, presented in Paris, Friday, 4 March 2011.

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The Spring/Summer 1985 collection wrought the major change in Westwood's career. An altered version of conservative 17th-century clothing was a sensation. Left, the model Bella Hadid wears a creation as part of the Vivienne Westwood Ready To Wear Spring-Summer 2020 collection, unveiled during the fashion week, in Paris, Saturday, 28 September 2019.

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A model wears a creation by British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood as part of her ready-to-wear spring-summer 2011 fashion collection, in Paris, Friday 1 October 2010.

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In 1995, Westwood co-authored a book called "Fashion in art: The Second Empire and Impressionism". Left, a model wears an outfit by designer Vivienne Westwood, for her Red Label Autumn/Winter 2015 show at London Fashion Week, in London, Sunday, 22 February 2015.

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Model Bella Hadid wears a creation for the Vivienne Westwood fashion collection during fashion week Fall/Winter 2020/21 presented in Paris, Saturday, 29 February 2020.

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Westwood is not the only fashionista in the family. Her younger son with Malcolm McLaren, Joseph Corré, is a founder of underwear brand Agent Provocateur. Left, a model wears a creation for Vivienne Westwood Spring/Summer 2018 ready-to-wear fashion collection presented in Paris, Saturday, 30 September 2017.

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A model wears a creation as part of the Vivienne Westwood Ready To Wear Spring-Summer 2020 collection, unveiled during the fashion week, in Paris, Saturday, 28 September 2019.

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According to the latest reports, Westwood's fashion label made a pre-tax profit of £2.7 million in 2019, against a pre-tax loss of £2.5 million a year earlier. Left, a model wears a creation for Vivienne Westwood Spring/Summer 2018 ready-to-wear fashion collection presented in Paris, Saturday, 30 September 2017.

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Westwood is trying to keep apace with the younger generation by promoting her brand and ideas on YouTube channel. Left, a model wears a creation for Vivienne Westwood's Spring-Summer 2016 ready-to-wear fashion collection, presented during the Paris Fashion Week in Paris, Saturday 3 October 2015.

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As for now, Westwood is keeping a highly active blog dubbed Climate Revolution, where she shares her thoughts on a wide range of environmental issues. Left, a model wears a creation by British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood as part of her Spring Summer 2010 fashion collection presented in Paris, Friday, 2 October 2009.

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In 1992, Westwood was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Left, a model presents a creation as part of British designer Vivienne Westwood's Spring/Summer 2015 ready-to-wear fashion collection, presented in Paris, France, Saturday, 27 September 2014.

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She advanced to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2006. Left, British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, centre, holds a bouquet of flowers as she appears with models at the end of her Fall-Winter 2010-2011 ready-to-wear fashion collection presented in Paris, Friday, 5 March 2010.