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‘Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist’ Explores Iconic Designer’s Career

July 18, 2018

5 min read

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We have 5 double passes to giveaway for the highly anticipated film, Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist. Read on to see how you can win.

Directed by Lorna Tucker, Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist follows the story of British designer Vivienne Westwood and her iconic career. The designer is known as a rebel in both the fashion industry and on her stance on social and political issues.

Now a household name, the docu-portrait delves deep into the uphill battle that Westwood faced to cement herself in the fashion industry. Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist is not a documentary to inflict admiration, sympathy or affinity with but instead simply tells the story and the raw emotive character of Westwood.

Westwood, 77, sits candidly in an oversized armchair, a closed book who would rather talk about anything other than her past. Her brash personality is reflected in the first minute of the film as she avoids answering simple questions as if the film crew are somewhat of a nuisance. “I will get into it but, it’s so boring to say all of this,” she says brushing off the producer’s probing questions.

Always a rebel at heart she insinuates that she was the catalyst for the Punk movement. Westwood’s story begins with her 1970s ascent to punk royalty with ex-partner Malcolm McLaren with their shop “Sex” on London’s Kings Road. Westwood and McLaren soon started dressing punk band the Sex Pistols which placed her as the designer behind the rebellious movement. After the split with McLaren, Westwood was left with the small business, two children and little resources. McLaren did not make it easy for her to grow as a designer and alienated any corporate interest that could have catapulted Westwood into a household name much earlier.

Vivienne’s characteristics: drive, courage and rebellion enabled her to continue creating avant-garde statement pieces and sell and create within a small trustworthy family unit. The film delved into the exclusivity of the fashion industry and how Westwood had been turned away and shunned for creating pieces that broke the traditional trends and had political meaning behind them.

The notorious Sue Lawley TV interview from the ’80s is perfectly placed in the film which shows the audience roaring in laughter at the designs that even Sue Lawley couldn’t help but mock. The archive footage shows how before her time, Westwood, was creating pieces that made the audience question the meaning. Her influence in fashion from her early career is obvious as nowadays designers are continuously trying to provoke and shock.

There is a star-studded list of cameos from Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Carine Roitfeld. With entertaining tidbits like Naomi Campbell discussing her iconic fall on Westwood’s runway that helped catapult both of their careers, and Kate Moss mentioning that Westwood had admitted that Kate could have been her first “lesbian love”. The film offers surprising insider peeks into the life of the iconic designer.

In Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist we are also introduced to Andreas Kronthaler, Westwood’s husband and business partner. The love Kronthaler has for Westwood is expressed throughout the film as he talks candidly about his love for Westwood (calling them “true soul mates”) and is acknowledged by Westwood’s sons. The former athlete met the designer by chance and continued to work with her on the brand, describing their partnership as 50/50.

The second half explores an underlying tension: her business has grown too big and Westwood feels out of touch with it as she puts more trust into Kronthaler. Her focus shifts to activism and protest — she has joined Greenpeace on a trip to Antarctica for a first-hand look at the consequences of our environmental impacts.

The Vivienne Westwood brand has always been based on political and social messages through clothing, but with Kronthaler gaining more responsibility, the future of Westwood seems uncertain as Kronthaler admits that he is not interested in “those sorts of things”. At this stage, when there is no more punk and Westwood is seemingly slowly distancing herself from the brand, audiences can’t help but notice the contradictions. One minute, there is footage of Westwood on a Greenpeace vessel, the next the clothing for their next collection is arriving wrapped in plastic. An arrangement of balloons decorate her new store opening and her team admits that the most sustainable thing for her to so would be to shut the brand down.

This raises the question: what’s next for Westwood?