She represents the alpha and omega of English fashion. Provocative and wise, DAME VIVIENNE WESTWOOD’S tale is one of a life less ordinary, an aristocratic style that conquered the street.

ICONOCLAST Attuned to the most sophisticated urban cultures, this 73-yearold activist continues to reinvent fashion. No need to ask her to be outrageoous: that’s what she has done all her life. An autobiographical book—the first authorised by the erstwhile schoolteacher, eternal rebel and now grandmother—written with Ian Kelly (Vivienne Westwood, Pan MacMillan Australia, out now) stands as a reminder of this.

INDOMITABLE An active militant, this woman does nothing by chance. She fights for many causes, from defending the Arctic to fighting against the exploitation of shale gas. Her recent ultrashort hairstyle aims to raise awareness of climate change: her spring 2015 Paris runway show was pointedly named “End Ecocide” and dedicated to the children of the world.

ILLUMINOUS Westwood’s latest ready-to-wear campaign once again features the designer with her husband (also co-designer and creative director), Andreas Kronthaler. Added to their duet is Stella
Schnabel: actress, artist and muse. The couple and the daughter of the painter Julian Schnabel are depicted playing dress-ups in a room at Westwood and Kronthaler’s South London home.

INTERGENDERED Loose sweatshirts, one-size-fits-all jackets, oversize shorts, vegetable dyed knits: this season, Westwood attempts to mitigate the male/ female divide through her new collection, Unisex (viviennewestwood. com). Printed graphics bearing slogans such as ‘What’s good for the planet is good for the economy, what’s bad for the planet is bad for the economy’ permit the sexes to seamlessly mix their wardrobe and their politics.

INFLIGHT Being a revolutionary, how is it that Westwood could be tempted to create a commercial airline uniform? The new Virgin Atlantic attire bears her signature: sexy tailoring inspired by 1940s French haute couture and Savile Row. In Virginal red, it is given a very Westwood point of view, crafted using polyester fibres made from recycled plastic bottles.