Sara's Beautiful Thinker - Vivienne Westwood

“She never held anything back as a designer and a woman.”

Sara talks about the beautiful thinking and dressmaking of the ‘matriarch of British fashion’, the exceptional and eccentric Vivienne Westwood.

“She reminded us of our womanliness and how to free it”.

Just one of the ways that fashion designer and British icon Vivienne Westwood has inspired Sara, Free The Birds founding Partner and Business Director.

“She made clothes for real women, to be yourself with no apologies”.

So, what drew teenage Sara to Vivienne in the first place?

“Day trips to London. London has become my home and is where my first forays into fashion happened. Kensington Market. Shelly’s near Carnaby Street for Dr. Martens. Vivienne Westwood embodied the energy and irreverence of London. Not taking fashion too seriously. Her clothes are true souvenirs of London, one hundred times better than fridge magnets.”

‘Energy and irreverence’ could be the two words which best articulated the movement which brought Vivienne Westwood not just to Sara’s but to the world’s attention – punk.

“There is something not safe about her fashion which goes back to the punk roots”, Sara says. “She was rebellious and restless.”

“The bondage trousers and safety pins were anti-fashion, she was the ultimate disruptor.”

And yet Sara believes that, although punk was her platform all those years ago, she has never been more relevant than now.

“At her memorial there were as many design students paying their respects as there were punks. She is supercool for Gen Z who have discovered her via the resale websites. Lucy (Sara’s daughter) and Daisy (marketing assistant at Free The Birds) proudly own the iconic orb jewellery and aspire to wear her stuff”.

And Sara points out that in sustainability, one of the issues which now preoccupy today’s young generation, Vivienne Westwood was characteristically ahead of her time.

“She had sustainability principles before people knew what sustainability was. Her mantra was ‘buy less, choose well, make it last’ The Vivienne Foundation (a charity founded in her name) carries on her good work in its mission to halt climate change and create a better society.”

“Her choice of fabrics recycled the past. Tartan, combinations of colour, ordered and chaotic at the same time” and corsetry, Sara’s favourite Westwood signature dish.

“I idolise the Sunday Dress (one of Westwood’s most celebrated pieces). I dream of owning one. I imagine myself romping around Hampstead Heath in chunky boots and wild hair. It’s a corset dress but you feel anything but restricted, you feel ‘frolicky’”.

Is this feeling of liberation something that Vivienne Westwood has bequeathed to women in general?

“She never let anything hold her back as a designer and a woman. And that is a good philosophy for designers and women alike. She also promoted body positivity. She made clothes which went up to an 18 in an era where you would have thought that fashion was just for ‘the sticks.’ She was a pioneer and a revolutionary but she was a woman, she was feminine and powerful.”

And Sara believes that Vivienne Westwood has every right to take her place among the most influential female icons.

“Last year”, Sara observes, “we lost two Queens.”