The mother of punk Dame Vivienne Westwood will continue to inspire generations to come

When I heard about the passing of Dame Vivienne Westwood last night, I felt compelled to write about her immediately. For me, the name Vivienne Westwood is someone who managed to infuse the world of fashion with her unique individuality and touch of rebellion.

A few hours after her passing, I looked at my phone to see my social media flooded with tributes to Vivienne Westwood. One of the tributes that struck me most came from a former colleague of mine, Lia Briamonte.

Lia, who runs luxury vintage furniture and antiques company Anemone Interiors (a celebrity favourite), exclusively spoke to PeopleWorld about the influence Vivienne Westwood has had on her family and herself. “My mum was a fashion student in London in the late 1970s and Vivienne Westood was a name that she would regularly mention,” she told me. “Vivienne had designed a T-shirt that was cut round the neck in a horizontal shape so it would hang off the shoulder. It was very cool back then and I remember mum doing it to all her t-shirts in the 1980s.”

Lia was lucky enough to meet Vivienne herself at the Elle Style Awards back in 2001 and was only too happy to relive the experience with me. “I walked over to her and said hello Vivienne. I told her that I didn’t know what to say to her,” Lia recalled. After explaining to Vivienne about how much she admired her, Vivienne took her hand and said, “My darling I am glad you have to tell me this. Lia, my advice is don’t blend. Do what the f**k you want to do. F**k what people think of you.”

I love this advice by Vivienne Westwood to not ‘blend.’ Vivienne was originally a primary school teacher, and started making jewellery, followed by dresses in her spare time. Her life changed forever when she met and married her second husband Malcolm McLaren.

In an article tribute to Vivienne Westood, fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar said that “in the ‘70s, she, along with Malcolm McLaren, architected fashion into a platform for activism through their boutique and clothing brand SEX.”

Activism has always played an important part in Vivienne Westwood’s life, and she was particularly passionate about climate change. “In 2012, Vivienne inaugurated the Climate Revolution at the London Paralympics closing ceremony and continues to rally charities, NGOs and individuals to join forces and to take action against disengaged political leaders and big business, “ is written on the Vivienne Westwood website.

There have of course been so many pivotal fashion moments in Vivienne’s long career.

One memorable one has to be in 1993 when supermodel Naomi Campbell had an epic fall walking the Vivienne Westood runway in a huge pair of platform shoes. Although she couldn’t help but laugh when she fell, Naomi got back up and finished her walk.

Another memorable Vivienne Westwood fashion moment is when she collected her OBE from Queen Elizabeth II for her services to fashion in 1992. She looked very smart at the time in a grey tailored skirt suit. However, when she did a twirl for the cameras, it soon became evident that she had decided not to wear knickers that day. So Vivienne!

Vivenne Westwood has always been a firm favourite amongst celebrities and fashion journalists alike. I will never forget the palpable excitement when one of her iconic Vivienne Westwood boxes arrived in the Cosmopolitan Bride offices.

When you opened up the boxes to discover the most dreamy wedding dresses imaginable, it was impossible not to want to immediately go to the fashion cupboard and try them on!

It is no wonder that Sarah Jessica Parker’s character Carrie Bradshaw in the Sex and the City movie was so excited to wear a Vivienne Westwood dress to marry ‘Mr Big.’ Although she unfortunately did not get to wear the dress as Mr Big did not to show up, the whole world got to see just how amazing Vivienne Westwood dresses were.

Nowadays, celebrities are equally as excited to wear Vivienne Westwood designs as they were years gone by. One such example is film star Timothee Chalamet who wore a Vivienne Westwood sweater to his ‘Bones and All’ photocall in Rome.

I am in no doubt that celebrities and models alike will continue to wear Vivienne Westwood for many years to come.