She began designing in 1971, along with her partner Malcolm McLaren, when London was at the forefront of cultural trends. The showcase for their ideas and designs was the shop at 430 Kings Road, London. With her changing ideas of fashion came the change of not only the name of the shop, but the entire decor as well. In 1971, 430 King’s Road was known as ‘Let It Rock’ and was initially specialised in Fifties rock’ n’ roll clothing and memorabilia before changing its name in 1972 to Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die, and focusing on rock fashion and black urban culture. In 1974, Westwood changed the shop’s name again to Sex and began dressing cult band, the New York Dolls. By the time the Sex Pistols appeared wearing Westwood clothes in 1976, the shop’s name had changed again to Seditionaries, and in 1979 it changed for the final time to World’s End.

  

 

In 1981, Westwood unveiled her first runway collection, ‘Pirate’, marking her move away from street culture into the world of traditional tailoring techniques. In 1989 her creativity was formally recognised when John Fairchild, the editor ofWomen’s Wear Daily, declared her one of the six best designers in the world.

 

1990 was a significant year for Westwood. She unveiled her ‘Portrait’ collection, revealed her first menswear collection in conjunction with Pitti Uomo in Florence and was awarded the title of British Designer of the Year, an accolade she was to receive again in 1991. In 1992 she was made an Honorary Senior Fellow at the Royal College of Art and was awarded an OBE. 1993 saw her become Professor of Fashion at the Berliner Hochschule der Kunste.

 

The same year saw the V&A host a Vivienne Westwood retrospective exhibition to celebrate 34 years in fashion - the largest exhibition ever devoted to a living British fashion designer, which is now touring the world. In 2006, her contribution towards British Fashion was officially recognized when she was appointed a Dame.

In 2007 VW ltd. launches two new fragrances, Boudoir Sin Garden and Let it rock. The same year Anglomania is shown at the Mercedes Benz Fashion week in Berlin and the Vivienne Westwood Retrospective exhibition opens in San Francisco in March and in Milan in September.

 

Vivienne Westwood, in 2007, is also rewarded with the Outstanding Achievement in Fashion at the British Fashion Awards in London. In 2008 Vivienne Westwood shows her Red Label in London after almost a decade of absence from her country and calls on the other British brands that now only show abroad to follow her example. In February 2008 Westwood launched the Vivienne Westwood Opus, published by Kraken Sport & Media Ltd. The Opus features the designer’s family and friends photographed on one of the world’s largest Polaroid camera.

In May 2008 the Vivienne Westwood V&A retrospective went to Museums Sheffield: Millennium Gallery (in Sheffield) as the last English stop of the worldwide exhibition tour. From 1st December 2008 to 31st January 2009, Swire Properties host the exhibition in Hong Kong. It will be staged in Cornwall House, TaiKoo Place and will then travel to Beijing. Vivienne Westwood is a fashion brand for all ages that transcends generations. It is for those with a rebellious spirit who dare to be different and want to be ahead of their time.

 

Through an extensive distribution network Vivienne Westwood Products are today sold in 86 countries throughout 5 continents with over 20 lines of product. Today Vivienne Westwood Ltd is proud to be a growing and entirely independent company. Vivienne Westwood is now both recognized as a global brand and Vivienne herself one of the most influential fashion designers in the world.