British designer Vivienne Westwood, whose punk and new wave-inspired garments made her a fashion icon, has died. She was 81.
Westwood's eponymous fashion house announced her death on social media platforms, saying she died peacefully surrounded by family. A cause of death was not disclosed.
"The world needs people like Vivienne to make a change for the better," the fashion house wrote on Twitter.
USA TODAY has reached out to Westwood's representative for comment.
Westwood’s fashion career began in the 1970s with the punk explosion, when her radical approach to urban street style took the world by storm. But she went on to enjoy a long career highlighted by a string of triumphant runway shows in London, Paris, Milan and New York.
The name Westwood became synonymous with style and attitude even as she shifted focus from year to year. Her range was vast and her work was never predictable.
Born in Glossop, England, on April 8, 1941, Westwood was a schoolteacher before marrying Derek Westwood in 1962. The couple would later divorce in 1965.
Westwood formed a professional partnership with Malcom McLaren, who became known for managing punk rock band the Sex Pistols, in 1965. The pair headed Let It Rock, a secondhand shop that sold 1950s vintage clothing and rock records from McLaren's collection, and later opened the boutique Seditionaries.
Westwood, a self-taught designer, also made clothing designs based on McLaren's ideas, which included distressed t-shirts emblazoned with "shocking antiestablishment slogans and graphics" and bondage pants inspired by sadomasochistic aesthetics.
As her stature grew, she seemed to transcend fashion, with her designs shown in museum collections throughout the world. The young woman who had scorned the British establishment eventually became one of its leading lights, and she used her elite position to lobby for environmental reforms even as she kept her hair dyed the bright shade of orange that became her trademark.
Contributing: The Associated Press
