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The Arts Intel Report

Vivienne Westwood: Politics and Fashion

May 21, 2020 – Sept 20, 2021
Somerset House, South Wing, Strand, London WC2R 1LA, United Kingdom

In 1970s London, Malcolm McLaren of the Sex Pistols opened a boutique sporting his band’s name. Pretty soon, with his partner Vivienne Westwood as designer, the boutique became a landmark of street culture, dropping the word Pistols from its name to become simply SEX. It was the beginning of the revolutionary Punk movement, and ever since Westwood has been at the forefront of British fashion. As Westwood once said, she was just “seeing if one could put a spoke in the system.” —E.C.

Vivienne Westwood Protesting on a Tank © Vivienne Westwood. British Fashion Council, London.