Vivienne Westwood

‘The only reason I'm in fashion is to destroy the word “conformity”’, Vivienne Westwood declared in the late 1970s, when she was best known for creating the punk style. This motto continued to resonate after Westwood presented her first catwalk collection, 'Pirate', in 1981, soon becoming one of the most thought-provoking and influential fashion designers in the world while staying true to her beliefs, including her impassioned environmental activism. This definitive publication opens with a concise history of the house, followed by brief biographical profiles of Vivienne Westwood and Andreas Kronthaler (her husband and long-time collaborator), before exploring the collections themselves, organized chronologically. Each collection is introduced by a short text unveiling its influences and highlights, and illustrated with carefully curated catwalk images that showcase hundreds of spectacular clothes, details, accessories, beauty looks and set designs – and, of course, the top fashion models who wore them on the runway, from Kate Moss to Naomi Campbell. A rich reference section, including an extensive index, concludes the book. Published to mark the fortieth anniversary of Dame Vivienne's first fashion show – and her eightieth birthday on 8 April – this volume is the first in the popular Catwalk series to celebrate a British house.

Alexander Fury is a fashion journalist, author and critic. He is the Fashion Features Director of AnOther magazine, and the Men's Critic of the Financial Times newspaper. His first book Dior: Catwalk was published by Thames and Hudson, and he is also the author of Catwalking and Dior by Gianfranco Ferré.