Vivienne Westwood, the legendary and maverick designer who brings the punk to high fashion giving a rebellious touch to British style, died at 81 in the Clapham neighborhood of South London.

Andreas Kronthaler, Westwood’s design collaborator and husband, paid tribute: "I will continue with Vivienne in my heart. We have been working until the end and she has given me plenty of things to get on with. Thank you darling. "She died peacefully and surrounded by her family... Westwood continued to do the things she loved up until the last moment, designing, working on her art, writing her book, and changing the world," the statement said.

Vivienne was 30 when she and her boyfriend, Malcolm McLaren, the music impresario and founder of the Sex Pistols, opened a shop called Let It Rock at 430 King’s Road in London, which was the symbolic address of the punk movement in the city. The boutique sold fetish wear and clothing inspired by the Teddy Boy look of the 1950s. After the relationship with Mr. McLaren ended, Vivienne started designing provocative creations under her own name affirming themselves to an international level. Many of her inspirations were drawn from a vision of artists she loved. Her designs shown in museum collections around the world.

Over the year Vivienne was intensely committed to the fight against global warming. She was an avid activist throughout her life. In 2012, she inaugurated the Climate Revolution at the London Paralympics closing ceremony and rallied individuals, NGOs and charities from Greenpeace to the Humane Society International to join forces and to take action against disengaged political leaders and big business. She has also written an activist Manifesto called Active Resistance to Propaganda which is rooted in culture as the stimulus to save the planet for future generations.

Her pursuits will continue with the launch of The Vivienne Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation founded by Vivienne and her family members in late 2022 and built upon four pillars, climate change, stop war, defend human rights, and protest capitalism.

In 2016 Vivienne Westwood added the name of Andreas Kronthaler to the label of her main runway collection, since renamed "Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood", who will continue to show collections during Paris Fashion Week.

Photo by Juergen Teller