Vivienne Westwood

London’s Chelsea district was experiencing a strange shift in 1970. Members of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were moving in. Local boutiques selling bohemian goods were popping up like weeds. It was seeming like the neighborhood was to become ground zero for the post-hippie ’70s until Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood popped up. The two set up shop in the back of Paradise Garage, a small outpost in Chelsea, selling ’50s kitsch. In 1971, Paradise Garage shut down and the pair took over the space, renaming it Let It Rock. The shop went through many names and iterations, its most famous period under the simple name, “SEX”. Even with all the changes and renamings, the constant was Westwood’s handmade garments. As punk and the style that came with it rose in popularity, the shops ’50s leather jackets and Westwood’s shock-inducing graphic tees and bondage trousers rose along with it.

After spending the ’70s dressing the cool crowds of London, McLaren and Westwood parted ways at the end of the decade. While McLaren went on to manage musicians, Westwood focused on her craft, emerging with her legendary 1981 Pirates runway show. The show would inspire the likes of Helmut Lang, Maison Martin Margiela and Jean-Paul Gaultier.

Although her graphic tees are as shocking today as they were in the ’70s and ’80s, these days Westwood is best known for her necklaces which often feature skulls, hearts and cross adorned-orbs. Westwood’s most recent success of note, the Vivienne Westwood x Asics collaboration of 2019 was proof that the designer is just as on the pulse of today as she was at Let It Rock.

Where is Vivienne Westwood made?
Vivienne Westwood is made in England and Italy.

What is the Vivienne Westwood logo?
The Vivienne Westwood logo is the orb.