Dame Vivienne Westwood, the pioneering British fashion designer who was instrumental in the punk movement, has passed away at the age of 81 in London.

Thursday, December 29, Westwood died “peacefully, surrounded by her family” in Clapham, south London, according to a statement released by her management.

She had continued to do the things she loved, including designing, working on her book and making art, “up until the last moment”, they added.

Her husband and creative partner, Andreas Kronthaler, said: “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.”

Born in the Derbyshire village of Tintwistle in 1941, Westwood’s family moved to London in 1957, where she attended art school for one term. A self-taught designer with no formal fashion training, Westwood learned how to make clothes as a teenager by following patterns and by taking apart secondhand clothes she found at markets in order to understand the cut and construction.

Vivienne Westwood brought Provocative Punk Style to High Fashion.

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