With her androgynous designs, slogan t-shirts, and irreverent attitude toward the establishment, the pioneering fashion designer made a name for herself on the fashion scene in the 1970s. Dame Vivienne died “peacefully and surrounded by her family in Clapham, south London” on Friday, according to her representatives. “I will continue with Vivienne in my heart,” her husband and creative partner Andreas Kronthaler said in a statement. We’ve been working until the end, and she’s given me plenty of tasks to complete. Thank you very much, darling.” In addition to her fashion, the Derbyshire-born designer was known for her activism, speaking out against issues such as pollution and climate change, and supporting Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. She once dressed up as Margaret Thatcher for a magazine cover and drove a white tank near former Prime Minister David Cameron’s home to protest fracking. Dame Vivienne also demonstrated her rebellious nature when she was awarded an OBE by the Queen in 1992. She arrived without underwear, which she revealed to photographers with a twirl of her skirt. “The only reason I’m in fashion is to demolish the word ‘conformity,'” she stated in her biography. “I’m not interested in anything unless it has that element.”
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