'When in doubt, dress up!' That was the theme of the late Vivienne Westwood’s memorial service, held at London‘s Southwark Cathedral to a sea of well-dressed onlookers. And dress up they did. Bold tartan suiting, corsetry, vertiginous platform heels and marabou-trimmed headwear were spotted among the who's who of fashion, music and activism as London’s creative set gathered to pay tribute to the godmother of punk, who died on 29 December, aged 81.
With many fashion-world figures and celebrities in town on the eve of London Fashion Week, Victoria Beckham arrived with American designer Marc Jacobs, while Kate Moss, Elle Fanning, Stormzy, Beth Ditto and Alexa Chung took their seats alongside Greenpeace director John Sauven and model-turned-activist Lily Cole.
In a celebratory rather than somber ceremony, moving tributes - both emotional and packed with humour - were paid by Westwood’s family; her partner in life and work Andreas Kronthaler, sons Joseph Corré and Ben Westwood and granddaughter Cora Corré. A video montage, compiled by her brother Gordon Swire, cut between footage of a young Vivienne growing up ('by the time I was 18, I’d had about 200 boyfriends', she laughed) to a more recent interview. 'The activism is my priority - it’s what I live and die for,' she said in the video. 'And fashion is something I really like doing - it’s a lifeline, it’s therapy, it’s recharging my batteries.'
A self-confessed ‘Westwood worshipper’, actor Helena Bonham Carter delivered a rousing eulogy to her favourite designer. 'Without Vivienne, well, I’d be naked,' she joked, head-to-toe in the designer’s tartan suiting and signature pearl accessories. 'I have a sinful amount of her clothes, decade's worth of her clothes. In fact, she’d probably be angry given she always said to buy less.' Live performances by Nick Cave and The Pretenders’ frontwoman Chrissie Hynde, who sang Buddy Holly’s Raining in My Heart, were peppered with a homage to Westwood’s well-documented activism by Sauven.
Kronthaler best summed up the enduring spirit of the grandmother, wife, mother, artist, designer, teacher and activist. 'She always thought life without love is not worth it - what she wanted more than anything is to make the world a better place.'