Vivienne Westwood 1999
Vivienne Westwood began designing in 1971 and used her shop at
430 King's Road as a
showcase for her ideas, changing the shop name and decor with
every collection. The last in the series was "World's End" which remains the name
of the store today. In
March 1992, she showed for the first time a collection under
her own name at Olympia in
London. The following year she began to show in Paris.
Vivienne Westwood completed two years as professor of fashion
at the Vienna academy of applied arts for the years 1989-91.
She also accepted a professorship of fashion at the Hochschule
der Kunste in Berlin in
1992, where she continues to teach.
Vivienne Westwood traditionally included menswear within her
womenswear collections
but in January 1996 she showed her men's label "Man" for the
first time as an
independent collection in Milan, it is now shown twice a year
as part of the menswear
shows in Milan. Vivienne Westwood shows twice a year her "Gold
Label" Collection in
Paris during the Pret-a-porter Fashion weeks and her "Red
Label" Collection twice a year
in New York and London.
Vivienne Westwood's first Mayfair shop opened in December 1990
to promote her "Gold
Label" Collection and to develop the spirit of Haute Couture,
offering a special order
service. Soon afterward Vivienne Westwood shops were opened in
Tokyo and around the
UK promoting all her Collections, "Gold and Red Label", "Man",
"Anglomania" and the
Accessories Collection. In May 1997 Vivienne Westwood opened
her head quarters in
the heart of Mayfair, which includes the European flagship
store and in September 1998
she opened her first flagship store in SoHo New York.
Vivienne Westwood is the only British Designer, who has her own
fragrance, Boudoir,
which was launched in June 1998.
Vivienne Westwood has twice been awarded the British Designer
of the Year award
(1990 and 1991), in 1992 was presented with an OBE by Her
Majesty the Queen and in
1997 with the Exporter of the Year Awards. In 1998 she was
awarded the first ever Moet
and Chandon Tribute award at the Victoria &Albert Museum in
London and with the
Queen's Award For Export Achievement, which she received at
Buckingham Palace.
photo: © Jim Marks