Dame Vivienne Westwood

In 1962, she married Derek Westwood, who was at that time an apprentice at the hoover factory in Harrow, London. The following year, they had a son. The marriage ended in divorce in 1965.

She became romantically involved with Malcolm McLaren, an English artist, with whom she had a child.

In 1992, she married Andreas Kronthaler, her former student and the couple live together in a Queen Anne style house in Britian.

She was born as Vivienne Isabel Swire in Tintwistle, Derbyshire to Gordon Swire, a greengrocer and storekeeper and Dora Swire.

She graduated from the Glossop Grammar School and in 1958, when her family relocated to London; she attended the Harrow School of Art at Westminster University, where she studied fashion and silversmithing for a term, after which she dropped out of college.

After leaving college, she went on to work at a factory and later attended a teachers training college and subsequently became a primary school teacher.

In 1971, she designed clothes for Malcolm McLaren’s boutique ‘430 King's Road’ and their designs gained mainstream attention, after the band ‘Sex Pistols’ flaunted their designs.

In 1981, ‘430 King's Road’ showcased its designs for the first time on the ramp. The theme of the show was ‘pirates’ and the following year the theme was ‘Buffalo Girls’.

In 1990, she launched her own exclusive line of a complete menswear collection and the same year she opened ‘The Vivienne Westwood shop’ in London.

In 1992, she started designing wedding gowns and also worked with the watch company ‘Swatch’, for which she designed a watch collection named ‘Putti’.

In 1993, she collaborated with ‘Swatch’ for the second time and created ‘Orb’, which is an exclusive range of watches. That following year, she also designed for the carpet company, Brinton’s.

She has designed for the 2011 royal wedding attendee, Princess Eugenie of York and has also designed for Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, the second wife of the Prince of Wales, Charles.

‘The Vivienne Westwood’ label is an internationally recognized designer label that has four boutiques in London, one boutique in Leeds and also one situated in Milan, Italy. Other branches are located in Los Angeles, Paris, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow and Manchester.