British fashion legend Dame Vivienne Westwood dies age 81
Legendary British fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood has died age 81.
A statement said she died on Thursday in London, surrounded by her family.
Dame Vivienne found fame in the 1970s when she brought punk fashions into the mainstream, running a boutique on London’s King’s Road alongside Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren.
She went on to establish a global fashion brand which today has stores in the UK, France, Italy, America and Asia.
“Vivienne Westwood died today, peacefully and surrounded by her family, in Clapham, South London. The world needs people like Vivienne to make a change for the better,” her fashion house tweeted.
Her husband and creative partner Andreas Kronthaler said: “I will continue with Vivienne in my heart.
“We have been working until the end and she has given me plenty of things to get on with. Thank you darling.”
The Derbyshire-born designer was also well known for her campaigning – standing up for issues such as pollution and climate change, as well as supporting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
At London Fashion Week in 2017
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Dame Vivienne Westwood on Julian Assange
She once dressed up as Margaret Thatcher for a magazine cover and drove a white tank near the home of former prime minister David Cameron to protest against fracking.
Dame Vivienne also showed her rebellious nature when receiving an OBE from the Queen in 1992.
She turned up without underwear – a fact she revealed with a twirl of her skirt for photographers.
“The only reason I am in fashion is to destroy the word ‘conformity’,” she said in her biography.
“Nothing is interesting to me unless it’s got that element.”
Dame Vivienne showcasing her menswear collection in Milan in 1998
At Milan Fashion Week in 2010
The designer was recognisable to many for her dyed orange hair – a nod to the punk aesthetic she helped popularise.
“There was no punk before me and Malcolm,” she said in her biography. “And the other thing you should know about punk too: it was a total blast.”
She regularly appeared on the catwalk to showcase her work, with model Naomi Campbell famously falling in a pair of giant Westwood platforms in 1993.
Her career took shape in the 1960s after her family had moved from near Glossop to north London.
She studied jewellery-making and silversmithing before becoming a primary school teacher.
After divorcing her first husband in 1966, with whom she had a son, she started selling jewellery on London’s Portobello Road.
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Dame Vivienne on the catwalk
It was there she met future punk godfather Malcolm McLaren; an encounter than would spawn their influential creative relationship as well as her second son, Joe, co-founder of lingerie brand Agent Provocateur.
“My clothes have a story. They have an identity. They have character and a purpose,” the designer once said.
“That’s why they become classics. Because they keep on telling a story. They are still telling it.”
Dame Vivienne married for a second time in 1993 after meeting Andreas Kronthaler while teaching in Vienna. He later became her creative partner.
Victoria Beckham, who also has a fashion business, was among the first to pay tribute on social media.
She wrote: “I’m so sad to learn of the passing of legendary designer and activist Dame Vivienne Westwood. My thoughts are with her family at this incredibly sad time VB.”
US designer Marc Jacobs said he was “heartbroken”.
“You did it first. Always. Incredible style with brilliant and meaningful substance,” he wrote on Instagram.
Singer Boy George tweeted that Dame Vivienne was “great and inspiring” and called her “the undisputed Queen of British fashion”.
The Victoria and Albert Museum called her a “true revolutionary and rebellious force in fashion”.
Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan tweeted that the designer was “a towering figure in British fashion” who “rewrote the rule book in the 1970s”.
Sir Keir Starmer has joined other European leaders in Kyiv to press Russia to agree an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.
The prime minister is attending the summit alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, recently-elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
It is the first time the leaders of the four countries have travelled to Ukraine at the same time – arriving in the capital by train – with their meeting hosted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz travelling in the saloon car of a special train to Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
Leaders arrive in Kyiv by train. Pic: PA
It comes after Donald Trump called for “ideally” a 30-day ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow, and warned that if any pause in the fighting is not respected “the US and its partners will impose further sanctions”.
Security and defence analyst Michael Clarke told Sky News presenter Samantha Washington the European leaders are “rowing in behind” the US president, who referred to his “European allies” for the first time in this context in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“So this meeting is all about heaping pressure on the Russians to go along with the American proposal,” he said.
“It’s the closest the Europeans and the US have been for about three months on this issue.”
Sir Keir Starmer, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron among world leaders in Kyiv. Pic: AP
Trump calls for ceasefire. Pic: Truth Social
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine and its allies are ready for a “full, unconditional ceasefire” for at least 30 days starting on Monday.
Ahead of the meeting on Saturday, Sir Keir, Mr Macron, Mr Tusk and Mr Merz released a joint statement.
European leaders show solidarity – but await Trump’s backing
The hope is Russia’s unilateral ceasefire, such as it’s worth, can be extended for a month to give peace a chance.
But ahead of the meeting, Ukrainian sources told Sky News they are still waiting for President Donald Trump to put his full weight behind the idea.
The US leader has said a 30-day ceasefire would be ideal, but has shown no willingness yet for putting pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin to agree.
The Russians say a ceasefire can only come after a peace deal can be reached.
European allies are still putting their hopes in a negotiated end to the war despite Moscow’s intransigence and President Trump’s apparent one-sided approach favouring Russia.
Ukrainians would prefer to be given enough economic and military support to secure victory.
But in over three years, despite its massive economic superiority to Russia and its access to more advanced military technology, Europe has not found the political will to give Kyiv the means to win.
Until they do, Vladimir Putin may decide it is still worth pursuing this war despite its massive cost in men and materiel on both sides.
“We reiterate our backing for President Trump’s calls for a peace deal and call on Russia to stop obstructing efforts to secure an enduring peace,” they said.
“Alongside the US, we call on Russia to agree a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace.”
Sir Keir and Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in March. Pic: AP
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Putin’s Victory Day parade explained
The leaders said they were “ready to support peace talks as soon as possible”.
But they warned that they would continue to “ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine” until Moscow agrees to a lasting ceasefire.
“We are clear the bloodshed must end, Russia must stop its illegal invasion, and Ukraine must be able to prosper as a safe, secure and sovereign nation within its internationally recognised borders for generations to come,” their statement added.
“We will continue to increase our support for Ukraine.”
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The European leaders are set to visit the Maidan, a central square in Ukraine’s capital where flags represent those who died in the war.
They are also expected to host a virtual meeting for other leaders in the “coalition of the willing” to update them on progress towards a peacekeeping force.
Military officers from around 30 countries have been involved in drawing up plans for a coalition, which would provide a peacekeeping force in the event of a ceasefire being agreed between Russia and Ukraine.
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This force “would help regenerate Ukraine’s armed forces after any peace deal and strengthen confidence in any future peace”, according to Number 10.
A special constable has been jailed after taking pictures on his phone from bodycam footage showing a dying man.
Former police volunteer William Heggs, 23, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment at Leicester Crown Court on Friday after showing the photos of victim William Harty, 28, to a female colleague and storing them on his Snapchat account.
Mr Harty was found seriously injured in a residential street in Leicester on 25 October 2021 and Heggs had attended the scene, helping with CPR before paramedics arrived.
Mr Harty died in hospital a day later and the man responsible for his injuries, his brother-in-law Martin Casey, was subsequently convicted of his manslaughter.
Heggs showed the pictures he had taken of bodycam footage of Mr Harty’s body to a Leicestershire Police constable, who reported Heggs and said she did not like seeing blood.
His phone was seized and officers discovered other photographs and video clips of bodyworn footage of incidents Heggs had attended on duty, including of a knife seizure, use of baton and pepper spray, and a man with an injured hand receiving first aid.
He also took pictures of a police computer screen, showing details of crimes and suspects, without consent.
Heggs stored the materials in a Snapchat folder and disclosed graphic details – most of which were not in the public domain – about the injuries to a woman who was killed in a road traffic collision he had attended, to a friend on the social media platform.
Heggs was suspended from the force in November 2021 and resigned in October 2024 before pleading guilty to 11 computer misuse and data protection offences this March.
William Harty’s widow Mandy Casey. Pic: PA
‘He has traumatised me’
Mr Harty’s widow, Mandy Casey, said in a victim impact statement read to the court that Heggs “took (her) husband’s dignity when he was most vulnerable”.
“You don’t take someone’s dignity and pride from them on their deathbed.”
She continued: “When I found out special constable Heggs had done this, I just wanted to ask why. He has traumatised me. I feel I will never know if he showed them to others.”
Ms Casey said she was still scared that photos of her husband’s body might appear on social media.
She added that she had lost trust in the police.
Public trust in police ‘significantly undermined’
Judge Timothy Spencer told Heggs, who has autism and ADHD, that he was “probably too immature to be working as a police officer” as he handed down the sentence.
He said Heggs had received “extensive training”, including on the importance of data protection, and knew he should only share materials for “a genuine policing purpose”.
Heggs’s actions had “significantly undermined” public trust and confidence in police, according to the judge.
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Malcolm McHaffie, from the Crown Prosecution Service, added: “William Heggs abused the public’s trust in the office he held as a special police constable.
“He violated the dignity of the deceased victims for no apparent reason other than what could be considered personal fascination and to gain credibility among his peers.”
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