Kate Moss and Victoria Beckham among stars at Vivienne Westwood memorial
Kate Moss, Victoria Beckham and Stormzy were among the famous faces who attended a memorial service for the late fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood in London.
Many guests styled themselves in classic Westwood fashion, with tartan designs and colourful, bold tailoring on display at the service which was held at Southwark Cathedral on Thursday.
Dame Vivienne, who was recognised as a punk legend, environmental activist and designer extraordinaire, died aged 81 in December.
Vogue editor-in-chief Dame Anna Wintour dressed in a tailored navy skirt and blazer accompanied by her signature sunglasses for the service.
Actress Helena Bonham Carter, who has worn Dame Vivienne’s punk stylings at many events and red carpets, paid tribute to the late designer in a red and purple full tartan skirt and blazer set paired with a Westwood pearl necklace.
The Pretenders’ frontwoman Chrissie Hynde, who worked at Dame Vivienne’s and Malcolm McLaren’s boutique in punk’s early days, wore a dark coat and patterned scarf.
Emin became a long-standing friend of Dame Vivienne after meeting at a Vogue shoot in the summer of 1999 with the artist later saying that “within days” she had become her “muse”.
The US star collaborated with the fashion designer on many occasions, with Dame Vivienne styling the 24-year-old in a custom pink corset-style dress for the Independent Spirit Awards in 2021.
Singer Paloma Faith wore a purple jumper under a rust, floral-patterned dress with red shoes while Mad Men actress Christina Hendricks dressed in a navy and black checked coat-dress for the service.
Model Georgia May Jagger attended in a grey pinstripe blazer and dark trousers as well as model Lily Cole who wore a black lace dress with a taupe coat.
Presenter and naturalist Chris Packham, a longtime friend of the designer and a fellow environmental campaigner, wore a dark suit with a grey camouflage coat for the service.
Presenter Jonathan Ross opted for a black trench coat and blue jumper, Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie wore a classic black suit, as did fashion designer Erdem Moralioglu and Babs actress Jaime Winstone donned a black fitted dress paired with black lace-up platforms.
Dame Vivienne emerged on the fashion scene in the 1970s, with her androgynous designs, slogan t-shirts and irreverent attitude towards the establishment.
She continued to break boundaries throughout her career and was responsible for some of fashion’s most famous designs – including her take on the corset, the ‘mini-crini’ – a shortened version of the Victorian crinoline dress – and Carrie Bradshaw’s bridal dress in the 2008 Sex And The City movie.
Notably, she actively campaigned for the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is fighting to avoid being sent to the US to face charges under the Espionage Act.
Assange’s wife Stella Moris was in attendance at the fashion designer’s memorial service.
Following her death, Assange said he was going to request leave from London’s Belmarsh prison to attend the fashion designer’s funeral.
Sculptor and designer Daniel Lismore used the memorial service to continue Dame Vivienne’s campaign efforts by wearing an outfit emblazed with an image of his face with the slogan #FreeAssange on it.
In 1992, Dame Vivienne famously wore a perfectly tailored skirt suit with a grey matching hat while collecting her OBE.
The outfit might have been demure, but she soon started twirling for photographers – only to reveal she was not wearing any knickers underneath.
She returned to Buckingham Palace in 2006 to be made a dame, and was once again without underwear – but she refrained from doing any twirling this time.