Vivienne Westwood

For my current university project i have been paired with Vivienne Westwood. I was really excited about this because i know all about her punk rock and rebellious history and her current love for helping save the planet from climate change. I was extremely excited to explore the history of the brand in more depth and find out her current attitudes towards fashion and culture.

When looking into Westwood brand i was intrigued to find out the story behind her logo. I was visually very aware of the iconic illustration, which had been carried and reinterpreted throughout her brand, however i didn't know the background of the futuristic piece. I was amazed that the logo wasn't originally intended for that use. I found out the logo was actually made for Prince Charles' jumper that Westwood had been designing. She figured that Prince Charles would wear the jumper purely for leisure and when 'about the house'. Westwood used elements that resembled a prince most, for example: griffons, coat of arms, the thistle for Scotland, the leek for Wales, the shamrock for Ireland, a chain, the crown & also the orb from the crown jewels. In order to honour it with a Westwood touch she added a satellite ring sound the orb to provide it with a 'futuristic' feel. The main influence behind this piece of work was astronomy, galaxies, and photography of 'the deep sky'. All typical wacky inspirations that this amazing designer would only think of. When showing her friend Carlo D'Amario, he thought it looked perfect for a logo and since then it has been a vital part of the Westwood brand.

I learnt that the story of the logo came much after Westwood's crazy, rebellious and punk years. Vivienne and her partner Malcolm McLaren opened their flagship store together, which was renamed and rebranded many times. The store had various inspirations including leather, the 1950s, biker clothing, zips, chains, provocative slogans and much more. They were labelled as 'punk rock' and this coordinated with the sex pistols. Once the sex pistols collapsed and 'punk rock' was leaked into main stream they renamed their store 'worlds end' and this is the name that is still used to this day.

#Westwood