How Vivienne Westwood Showed The Doubters

By Monika (she/her) who, as a fashion student, was massively inspired by Vivienne Westwood.

Dame Vivienne Westwood was more than just your average fashion designer. She brought punk and new wave into the mainstream. She used her catwalk shows as a way to campaign for causes she believed in. And she was tireless in speaking out about the climate emergency.

And, she did all of that before any of it was ‘cool’. Before the world woke up to her talents (and wayyyyyy before Buckingham Palace bestowed an OBE upon her and made her a ‘Dame’), the media would disparage her, TV hosts made mocking remarks about her fashion, and people in the street would make rude comments about what she was wearing or how she looked. But Vivienne was simply always unapologetically herself.

“To me, a hero is somebody who’s prepared to stick their neck out, to step out and walk tall, and to live life. That’s how I see a hero.” — Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne passed away at the end of 2022, but there are so many aspects of her that I’m determined to keep alive in my soul and in my spirit. I love how she never listened to the doubters — so whenever I notice self-doubt creeping into my mind, I like to remind myself of Vivienne and how she lived her life.

1. Be a rebel with a cause.

While Vivienne cared about many issues in the world, her main focus was the environment. She started talking about sustainability in the 1980s, when most people weren’t even aware of it. And she practised what she preached — aware of the negative impact of fast fashion, she scaled back her production, and encouraged her consumers to buy quality rather than quantity. She even shaved off her famous flame-red hair, as a protest about climate change. 

2. Don’t be afraid to push boundaries.

Vivienne always dared to be different. Whether it was by being one of the first designers to experiment with the ‘underwear as outerwear’ trend (which is still in fashion today!), or by blurring the lines between traditional male and female fashion (she designed pearl necklaces for men long before Harry Styles had them in his wardrobe); she lived life by her own rules and was never afraid to push the boundaries.

3. Take inspo from anywhere.

When creating her fashion collections, Vivienne took inspiration from throughout the ages. In her first shop, called Let it Rock which she set up with Malcom McClaren, she created drainpipe trousers, brothel creepers and other clothes inspired by the 1950’s. Over the next few years, the shop changed its name and its fashions — from biker-inspired leather clothes, to clothes that had a do-it-yourself kind of feel: ripped white T-shirts with painted slogans, tartan trousers with bondage straps, and knitwear with gaping holes. 

She showed us it’s never too late to change direction — we just need to have the courage to do it. 

4. Believe in yourself. 

“I do sometimes think it’d be really nice to live an ordinary life, to read books and see friends, because I don’t have much time for that. I also realise how easy it would have been not to lead this life. But I’ve always gravitated to situations where I’m going to learn.” — Vivienne Westwood

The lasting inspiration for me, from Vivienne’s life and work, is to just do what I want to do. She believed in herself. She made deliberate choices about what she truly cared about, and what she wanted to spend her time on. 

And that’s what I hope for myself. I hope I have the courage, and the determination, and also the support, to follow my own heart in life. And, dear reader, I hope the same for you too. So grow your strengths, nurture your passions, eat that food you’ve always wanted to try, spend the day staring at the sky… whatever it is you want to do, and whatever way you want to do it: Forget the haters, and just be unapologetically you.