Fashion Designer Vivienne Westwood Dead at 81

Vivienne Westwood, credited with making modern punk and new-wave fashion mainstream, passed away in Clapham, South London on Dec. 29.

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The fashion world is mourning the loss of a legend.

English designer Vivienne Westwood, who is credited with making modern punk and new-wave fashion mainstream, has died at the age of 81.

According to an Instagram statement, shared on her brand account on Dec. 29, the style icon passed away in Clapham, South London with her loved ones by her side. At this time, her cause of death hasn't been disclosed.

"Vivienne continued to do the things she loved," the company wrote, "up until the last moment, designing, working on her art, writing her book, and changing the world for the better."

The message continued, "Her innovation and impact over the last 60 years has been immense and will continue into the future."

Vivienne's husband Andreas Kronthaler, who she married in 1992, said that he will continue to carry out her legacy.

"We have been working until the end and she has given me plenty of things to get on with," he said in a statement. "Thank you, darling."

Westwood first skyrocketed to fame in the early 1970s after she opened a clothing boutique called SEX. She co-created clothes with Malcolm McLaren, who managed the "Sex Pistols" at the time. The band frequently wore their designs, making Westwood and McLaren rise in popularity.

As a self-taught designer, Westwood first made clothes based on McLaren's ideas, which included distressed T-shirts with "shocking anti-establishment slogans and graphics" and bondage pants, per USA Today.

But she revolutionized punk fashion on her own accord and embraced everything it represented.

"I was messianic about punk," she previously said, per The Sun. "Seeing if one could put a spoke in the system in some way."

Westwood's fashion far exceeded the punk scene, as her decades-long career continued to evolve over the years. But regardless of the direction she took her designs, which she showcased in many runway shows in London, Paris, Milan and New York, she always made her clothes with attitude and fearlessness.

Between 1981 to 1985, she dubbed the era "New Romantic" and before closing out the '80s, she shifted her style to what she called "The Pagan Years."

In the early-to-mid aughts, many of her creations were featured in "Sex and the City", especially in one of the most famous scenes in the 2008 film adaptation of the series.

After Carrie Bradshaw becomes engaged to Mr. Big, she's invited by her Vogue editor to model wedding dresses, including a voluminous corseted gown by Westwood. Ultimately, Carrie chooses to wear the design and the rest is history.

Last month, Sarah Jessica Parker was photographed on the set of "And Just Like That", wearing the same dress from her wedding to Mr. Big, proving it has stood the test of time.

Carrie's princess moments would later become a reality as Princess Eugenie wore not one, not two, but three Westwood looks for her pre-wedding dinner in 2011.

In 2006, Vivienne was honored for her services to fashion and named a Dame.

Before becoming a designer, Westwood—who was born in Glossop, England in 1941—was a schoolteacher. She married Derek Westwood in 1962 and welcomed their son Ben Westwood a year later. However, the couple divorced in 1965.

And while she and McLaren never tied the knot, they welcomed a son in 1969—Joseph Corré, the now-famed Agent Provocateur co-founder.

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