VIVIENNE WESTWOOD MAN

Vivienne Westwood Bio:

Vivienne Westwood (born Swire) was born in Derbyshire, England in 1941. Immersed in British craftsmanship from an early age, her father was a shoemaker and her mother a textiles worker. In 1965, she met Malcolm McLaren who became her partner in fashion, business and life. In 1971, Vivienne Westwood created a concept store on London’s world famous Kings Road, called “Let it Rock”. A few years later, the designer and McClaren opened another boutique called “Sex”, shocking establishment Britain. In 1977 they changed the name of their boutique to “Seditionaries” and sold punk style garments. Three years later there was again a further name change to “World’s End”, the store where Vivienne introduced her now famous ‘Pirate’ collection, including frilly shirts and romantic swashbuckling styles – pieces of which frequently return in today’s Vivienne Westwood collections.

In 1982 Vivienne Westwood finally introduced her first collection under her own name to much critical acclaim. Her collections ‘Buffalo’, ‘Savage’, and ‘Punkature’ signified the punk look of the 80’s. A year later, she showed in Paris, at the time, one of only a few British designers to ever do this.

Achievements: Vivienne Westwood won her first British Designer of the Year award in 1990 and then a second one the year after. In 1992 Vivienne Westwood was also awarded an O.B.E. and in 2006 was finally made a Knight of the British Realm (Dame).

Vivienne Westwood's interests and inspirations for her clothing collections are wide  ranging and easily seen throughout her menswear fashion shows over the  years, famously including collections inspired by pirates, renaissance  art, historical British costume, Harris Tweed and Scottish tartans, and  more recently, Romanov gypsies.

Today, the Vivienne Westwood menswear range includes everything from traditionally inspired British tailoring, to shirts, knitwear and shoes and also includes the more eye catching accessories like the diamond classic orb logo cufflinks and belts which form a core part of each collection. Catering to the 'Dandy', the Vivienne Westwood MAN collection is always more suited to those confident in their style and willing to stand out from the crowd for their dandyish dress sense.

VIEW OUR SIZE GUIDE TO VIVIENNE WESTWOOD MEN'S SHIRTS.

In the new collection look out for high quality knitwear (cardigans and jumpers) and the staple high collar 'Krall' shirts in different colours for a smart look but as always with Westwood, there are the more 'out there' or should that be 'daring' stuff if you're confident enough. After a recent show at London Fashion Week, Vivienne Westwood begged her fans to "stop shopping" to help save the planet. Well maybe, but's after you've bought the latest gear from her new menswear collection below, of course. Vivienne Westwood alongside our other British fashion favourite Sir Paul Smith is now a Knight of the British Empire and we can see why. Their contributions to British fashion have changed the way people dress and influenced global trends and still continue to do so today, both after many years in the business.

Also see the MilanStyle Vivienne Westwood Store for the designer's full menswear collections, including Gold Label and Anglomania.