Doyenne of British design Vivienne Westwood, who melded music and fashion together to help define punk and brought rebellious politics to the catwalk, died on Thursday aged 81, her family said.
Westwood made provocation itself into an art form - from the leather bondage gear she popularised in the 1970s to the time she went without underwear to Buckingham Palace to receive her damehood from the late Queen Elizabeth II.
"Her punk style rewrote the rule book in the 1970s and was widely admired for how she stayed true to her own values throughout her life," she wrote on Twitter.In an ever-colourful career, Westwood sent a bare-breasted Kate Moss down the runway munching on ice cream, and almost broke Naomi Campbell's ankle when the supermodel failed to stay upright on a pair of her nine-inch platform heels.
Together, they opened a clothing store on London's King's Road that became the epicentre of the punk movement. Her first proper fashion show came in 1981. Remembered as the Pirate Collection, it was an instant hit, modelled as much on Native Americans as nautical miscreants.