James Lovelock
Lovelock in 2005
Born	(1919-07-26) 26 July 1919 (age 92) Letchworth, Hertfordshire, England, UK
Residence	England, UK
Nationality	British
Fields	Chemistry, earth science
Institutions	Independent researcher
Alma mater	University of Manchester London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine University of London Harvard Medical School
Known for	Electron capture detector Gaia hypothesis
Notable awards	FRS, 1974 Tswett Medal, 1975 ACS, 1980 WMO Norbert Gerbier Prize, 1988 Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for the Environment, 1990 CBE, 1990 Volvo Environment Prize, 1996 CH, 2003 Wollaston Medal[2], 2006 Arne Naess Chair in Global Justice and the Environment [3], 2007

James Ephraim Lovelock, CH, CBE, FRS, Ph.D (born 26 July 1919) is an independent scientist, environmentalist and futurologist who lives in Devon, England. He is best known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, which postulates that the biosphere is a self-regulating entity with the capacity to keep our planet healthy by controlling the chemical and physical environment.

Biography[link]

James Lovelock was born in Letchworth Garden City in Hertfordshire, England, to working class parents who were strong believers in education. Nell, his mother started work at 13 in a pickle factory. His father, Tom, had served six months hard labour for poaching in his teens and was illiterate until attending technical college. The family moved to London where his dislike of authority made him, by his own account, an unhappy pupil at Strand School.^[1] Lovelock could not afford to go to university after school, something which he believes helped prevent him becoming over-specialized and aided the development of Gaia theory. He worked at a photography firm, attending Birkbeck College during the evenings, before being accepted for chemistry at the University of Manchester although he could only pay for two years of the three-year course. Lovelock worked at a Quaker farm before a recommendation from his professor led to him taking up a Medical Research Council post^[2] working on ways of shielding soldiers from burns. Lovelock refused to use the shaved and anaesthetised rabbits that were used as burn victims, and exposed his own skin to heat radiation instead, an experience he describes as "exquisitely painful".^[3] His student status enabled temporary deferment of military service during the Second World War, but he registered as a conscientious objector.^[4] He later abandoned this position in the light of Nazi atrocities and tried to enlist for war service, but was told that his medical research was too valuable for this to be considered.^{[citation needed]} In 1948 Lovelock received a Ph.D. degree in medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Within the United States he has conducted research at Yale, Baylor College of Medicine, and Harvard University.^[2]

Career[link]

A lifelong inventor, Lovelock has created and developed many scientific instruments, some of which were designed for NASA in its program of planetary exploration. It was while working as a consultant for NASA that Lovelock developed the Gaia Hypothesis, for which he is most widely known. He also claims to have invented the microwave oven[4].

In early 1961, Lovelock was engaged by NASA to develop sensitive instruments for the analysis of extraterrestrial atmospheres and planetary surfaces. The Viking program, that visited Mars in the late 1970s, was motivated in part to determine whether Mars supported life, and many of the sensors and experiments that were ultimately deployed aimed to resolve this issue. During work on a precursor of this program, Lovelock became interested in the composition of the Martian atmosphere, reasoning that many life forms on Mars would be obliged to make use of it (and, thus, alter it). However, the atmosphere was found to be in a stable condition close to its chemical equilibrium, with very little oxygen, methane, or hydrogen, but with an overwhelming abundance of carbon dioxide. To Lovelock, the stark contrast between the Martian atmosphere and chemically dynamic mixture of that of our Earth's biosphere was strongly indicative of the absence of life on the planet.^[5] However, when they were finally launched to Mars, the Viking probes still searched (unsuccessfully) for extant life there.

Lovelock invented the electron capture detector, which ultimately assisted in discoveries about the persistence of CFCs and their role in stratospheric ozone depletion.^[6][7][8] After studying the operation of the Earth's sulfur cycle,^[9] Lovelock and his colleagues developed the CLAW hypothesis as a possible example of biological control of the Earth's climate.^[10]

Lovelock was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974. He served as the president of the Marine Biological Association (MBA) from 1986 to 1990, and has been an Honorary Visiting Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford (formerly Green College, Oxford) since 1994. He has been awarded a number of prestigious prizes including the Tswett Medal (1975), an ACS chromatography award (1980), the WMO Norbert Gerbier Prize (1988), the Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for the Environment (1990) and the RGS Discovery Lifetime award (2001). In 2006 he received the Wollaston Medal, the Geological Society's highest Award, whose previous recipients include Charles Darwin [5]. He became a CBE in 1990, and a Companion of Honour in 2003.

An independent scientist, inventor, and author, Lovelock works out of a barn-turned-laboratory on the Devon/Cornwall border.

On May 8 2012, he appeared on the Radio Four series "The Life Scientific", talking to Jim al-Khalili about the Gaia hypothesis. On the programme, he mentioned how he had a claim for inventing the microwave oven. He also mentioned how his ideas had been received by various people, including Jonathan Porritt.

CFCs[link]

Reconstructed time-series of atmospheric concentrations of CFC-11.^[11]

After the development of his electron capture detector, in the late 1960s, Lovelock was the first to detect the widespread presence of CFCs in the atmosphere.^[6] He found a concentration of 60 parts per trillion of CFC-11 over Ireland and, in a partially self-funded research expedition in 1972, went on to measure the concentration of CFC-11 from the northern hemisphere to the Antarctic aboard the research vessel RRS Shackleton.^[7][12] He found the gas in each of the 50 air samples that he collected but, not realising that the breakdown of CFCs in the stratosphere would release chlorine that posed a threat to the ozone layer, concluded that the level of CFCs constituted "no conceivable hazard".^[12] He has since stated that he meant "no conceivable toxic hazard".

However, the experiment did provide the first useful data on the ubiquitous presence of CFCs in the atmosphere. The damage caused to the ozone layer by the photolysis of CFCs was later discovered by Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina. After hearing a lecture on the subject of Lovelock's results,^[13] they embarked on research that resulted in the first published paper that suggested a link between stratospheric CFCs and ozone depletion in 1974, and later shared the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (with Paul Crutzen) for their work.^[14]

Gaia[link]

First formulated by Lovelock during the 1960s as a result of work for NASA concerned with detecting life on Mars,^[15] the Gaia hypothesis proposes that living and non-living parts of the Earth form a complex interacting system that can be thought of as a single organism.^[16][17] Named after the Greek goddess Gaia at the suggestion of novelist William Golding,^[12] the hypothesis postulates that the biosphere has a regulatory effect on the Earth's environment that acts to sustain life.

While the Gaia hypothesis was readily accepted by many in the environmentalist community, it has not been widely accepted within the scientific community. Among its more famous critics are the evolutionary biologists Richard Dawkins, Ford Doolittle, and Stephen Jay Gould – notable, given the diversity of this trio's views on other scientific matters. These (and other) critics have questioned how natural selection operating on individual organisms can lead to the evolution of planetary-scale homeostasis.^[18]

Lovelock has responded to these criticisms with models such as Daisyworld, that illustrate how individual-level effects can translate to planetary homeostasis, under the right circumstances.

Nuclear power[link]

Lovelock has become concerned about the threat of global warming from the greenhouse effect. In 2004 he caused a media sensation when he broke with many fellow environmentalists by pronouncing that "only nuclear power can now halt global warming". In his view, nuclear energy is the only realistic alternative to fossil fuels that has the capacity to both fulfill the large scale energy needs of humankind while also reducing greenhouse emissions. He is an open member of Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy.

In 2005, against the backdrop of renewed UK government interest in nuclear power, Lovelock again publicly announced his support for nuclear energy, stating, "I am a Green, and I entreat my friends in the movement to drop their wrongheaded objection to nuclear energy".^[19] Although these interventions in the public debate on nuclear power are recent, his views on it are longstanding. In his 1988 book The Ages of Gaia he states:

"I have never regarded nuclear radiation or nuclear power as anything other than a normal and inevitable part of the environment. Our prokaryotic forebears evolved on a planet-sized lump of fallout from a star-sized nuclear explosion, a supernova that synthesised the elements that go to make our planet and ourselves."^[12]

In The Revenge of Gaia^[20] (2006), where he puts forward the concept of sustainable retreat, Lovelock writes:

"A television interviewer once asked me, 'But what about nuclear waste? Will it not poison the whole biosphere and persist for millions of years?' I knew this to be a nightmare fantasy wholly without substance in the real world... One of the striking things about places heavily contaminated by radioactive nuclides is the richness of their wildlife. This is true of the land around Chernobyl, the bomb test sites of the Pacific, and areas near the United States' Savannah River nuclear weapons plant of the Second World War. Wild plants and animals do not perceive radiation as dangerous, and any slight reduction it may cause in their lifespans is far less a hazard than is the presence of people and their pets... I find it sad, but all too human, that there are vast bureaucracies concerned about nuclear waste, huge organisations devoted to decommissioning power stations, but nothing comparable to deal with that truly malign waste, carbon dioxide."

The revenge of Gaia[link]

In James Lovelock's 2006 book, The Revenge of Gaia, he argues that the lack of respect humans have had for Gaia, through the damage done to rainforests and the reduction in planetary biodiversity, is testing Gaia's capacity to minimize the effects of the addition of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This eliminates the planet's negative feedbacks and increases the likelihood of homeostatic positive feedback potential associated with runaway global warming. Similarly the warming of the oceans is extending the oceanic thermocline layer of tropical oceans into the Arctic and Antarctic waters, preventing the rise of oceanic nutrients into the surface waters and eliminating the algal blooms of phytoplankton on which oceanic foodchains depend. As phytoplankton and forests are the main ways in which Gaia draws down greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, taking it out of the atmosphere, the elimination of this environmental buffering will see, according to Lovelock, most of the earth becoming uninhabitable for humans and other life-forms by the middle of this century, with a massive extension of tropical deserts.

In his most recent book, "The Vanishing Face of Gaia",^[21] he rejects scientific modelling that disagrees with the scientific findings that sea levels are rising faster, and Arctic ice is melting faster, than the models predict and he suggests that we may already be beyond the tipping point of terrestrial climate into a permanently hot state. Given these conditions, Lovelock expects human civilization will be hard pressed to survive. He expects the change to be similar to the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum when atmospheric concentration of CO₂ was 450 ppm. At that point the Arctic Ocean was 23 °C and had crocodiles in it,^[22][23] with the rest of the world mostly scrub and desert.

Climate and mass human mortality[link]

Writing in the British newspaper The Independent in January 2006, Lovelock argues that, as a result of global warming, "billions of us will die and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable" by the end of the 21st century.^[24] He has been quoted in The Guardian that 80% of humans will perish by 2100 AD, and this climate change will last 100,000 years. According to James Lovelock, by 2040, the world population of more than six billion will have been culled by floods, drought and famine. Indeed "[t]he people of Southern Europe, as well as South-East Asia, will be fighting their way into countries such as Canada, Australia and Britain".^[25]

"By 2040, parts of the Sahara desert will have moved into middle Europe. We are talking about Paris – as far north as Berlin. In Britain we will escape because of our oceanic position."^[25]

"If you take the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predictions, then by 2040 every summer in Europe will be as hot as it was in 2003 – between 110F and 120F. It is not the death of people that is the main problem, it is the fact that the plants can't grow – there will be almost no food grown in Europe."^[25]

"We are about to take an evolutionary step and my hope is that the species will emerge stronger. It would be hubris to think humans as they now are God's chosen race."^[25]

He further predicts, the average temperature in temperate regions will increase by as much as 8°C and by up to 5°C in the tropics, leaving much of the world's land uninhabitable and unsuitable for farming, with northerly migrations and new cities created in the Arctic. He predicts much of Europe will become uninhabitable having turned to desert and Britain will become Europe's "life-raft" due to its stable temperature caused by being surrounded by the ocean. He suggests that "we have to keep in mind the awesome pace of change and realise how little time is left to act, and then each community and nation must find the best use of the resources they have to sustain civilisation for as long as they can".^[24]

He partly retreated from this position in a September 2007 address to the World Nuclear Association's Annual Symposium, suggesting that climate change would stabilise and prove survivable, and that the Earth itself is in "no danger" because it would stabilise in a new state. Life, however, might be forced to migrate en masse to remain in habitable climes.^[26] In 2008, he became a patron of Population Matters, (formerly known as the Optimum Population Trust), which campaigns for a gradual decline in the global human population to a sustainable level.^[27]

In a March 2010 interview with the Guardian newspaper, he said that democracy might have to be "put on hold" to prevent climate change.^[28] He continued:

"Even the best democracies agree that when a major war approaches, democracy must be put on hold for the time being. I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while."

Geoengineering proposal[link]

In September 2007, Lovelock and Chris Rapley proposed the construction of ocean pumps to pump water up from below the thermocline to "fertilize algae in the surface waters and encourage them to bloom".^[29] The basic idea was to accelerate the transfer of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the ocean by increasing primary production and enhancing the export of organic carbon (as marine snow) to the deep ocean. A scheme similar to that proposed by Lovelock and Rapley is already being independently developed by a commercial company.^[30]

The proposal attracted widespread media attention^{[31][32][33][34]} and criticism.^[35][36][37] Commenting on the proposal, Corinne Le Quéré, a University of East Anglia researcher, said "It doesn’t make sense. There is absolutely no evidence that geoengineering options work or even go in the right direction. I’m astonished that they published this. Before any geoengineering is put to work a massive amount of research is needed – research which will take 20 to 30 years".^[31] Other researchers have claimed that "this scheme would bring water with high natural pCO₂ levels (associated with the nutrients) back to the surface, potentially causing exhalation of CO₂".^[37] Lovelock subsequently said that his proposal was intended to stimulate interest and research would be the next step.^[38]

Global warming[link]

In an April 2012 interview Lovelock stated that he had previously been "alarmist" about the timing of climate change, but not about climate change itself: he still believes the climate should be warming although the rate of change is not as once thought:

"The problem is we don’t know what the climate is doing. We thought we knew 20 years ago. That led to some alarmist books – mine included – because it looked clear-cut, but it hasn’t happened,” Lovelock said…The world has not warmed up very much since the millennium. Twelve years is a reasonable time ... it (the temperature) has stayed almost constant, whereas it should have been rising - carbon dioxide is rising, no question about that . . . There’s nothing much really happening yet. We were supposed to be halfway toward a frying world now," he said.^[39]

He is currently writing a book discussing how humanity can help regulate the Earth’s natural systems.^[39]

Books[link]

• Lovelock, James (2009). The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning: Enjoy It While You Can. Allen Lane. ISBN 978-1-84614-185-0. 
• Lovelock, James (2006). The Revenge of Gaia: Why the Earth Is Fighting Back – and How We Can Still Save Humanity. Santa Barbara (California): Allen Lane. ISBN 0-7139-9914-4. 
• Lovelock, James (2005). Gaia: Medicine for an Ailing Planet. Gaia Books. ISBN 1-85675-231-3. 
• Lovelock, James (2001) [Gaia Books 1991]. Gaia: The Practical Science of Planetary Medicine. Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0-19-521674-1. 
• Lovelock, James (2000) [1979]. Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-286218-9. 
• Lovelock, James (2000). Homage to Gaia: The Life of an Independent Scientist. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860429-7.  (Lovelock's autobiography)
• Lovelock, James (1995) [1988]. Ages of Gaia. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-393-31239-9. 
• Lovelock, James (1991). Scientists on Gaia. Cambridge, Mass., USA: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-19310-8. 
• Lovelock, James; Michael Allaby (1984). The Greening of Mars. Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-32967-3. 
• Lovelock, James; Michael Allaby (1983). Great Extinction. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-18011-X. 

Portraits[link]

In March 2012 the National Portrait Gallery unveiled a new portrait of Lovelock by British artist Michael Gaskell (2011). The collection also has two photographic portraits by Nick Sinclair (1993) and Paul Tozer (1994).^[40] The archive of the Royal Society of Arts has a 2009 image taken by Anne-Katrin Purkiss.^[41] Lovelock agreed to sit for sculptor Jon Edgar in Devon during 2007, as part of The Environment Triptych (2008)^[42] along with heads of Mary Midgley and Richard Mabey. A bronze head is in the collection of the sitter and the terracotta is in the archive of the artist.^[43]

See also[link]

• Gaia Symphony

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: James Lovelock

• James Lovelock's personal website
• James Lovelock tells his life story at Web of Stories (video)
• "Why Gaia is wreaking revenge on our abuse of the environment": Article about Lovelock published in the 'Independent'
• "Nuclear power is the only green solution": Lovelock article published in the 'Independent'
• Listen to an oral history interview with James Lovelock, recorded for An Oral History of British Science at the British Library.

Interviews[link]

• Lovelock at the Guardian
• Locklock at the BBC
• Dr. Lovelock Lectures on The Vanishing Face of Gaia Presented by Corporate Knights Magazine, 26 May 2009
• Audio: James Lovelock in conversation on the BBC World Service discussion show The Forum 1 st March 2009
• RSA Vision webcast – James Lovelock in conversation with Tim Radford the Vanishing Face of Gaia, 23 February 2009.
• Audio interview from Ideas:How to think about science, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 2 January 2008. (Real Audio)
• Climate Change on the Living Earth, Public lecture by James Lovelock, The Royal Society, 29 October 2007.
• The Prophet of Climate Change, Jeff Goodell, Rolling Stone, 17 October 2007.
• Radio interview with James Lovelock, KQED San Francisco, 13 September 2006.
• Creel Commission: reflections on meeting James Lovelock and a recent interview with him 26-08-2005

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012)

"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.^[1]

History[link]

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[2][dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.

It was also used as a term for a drug dealer in the 1950s and 1960s and can be seen in such media as Curtis Mayfield's "No Thing On Me", William Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch, and in the Velvet Underground song "I'm Waiting for the Man", in which Lou Reed sings about going to Uptown Manhattan, specifically Lexington Avenue and 125th Street, to buy heroin.

The use of this term was expanded to counterculture groups and their battles against authority, such as the Yippies, which, according to a May 19, 1969 article in U.S. News and World Report, had the "avowed aim ... to destroy 'The Man', their term for the present system of government". The term eventually found its way into humorous usage, such as in a December 1979 motorcycle ad from the magazine Easyriders which featured the tagline, "California residents: Add 6% sales tax for The Man."

In present day, the phrase has been popularized in commercials and cinema, featuring particularly prominently as a recurring motif in the 2003 film School of Rock.^[3][4][5][6]

Use as praise[link]

The term has also been used as an approbation or form of praise. This may refer to the recipient's status as the leader or authority within a particular context, or it might be assumed to be a shortened form of a phrase like "He is the man (who is in charge)." One example of this usage dates to 1879 when Otto von Bismarck commented, referring to Benjamin Disraeli's pre-eminent position at the Congress of Berlin, "The old Jew, he is the man."^{[7][dubious – discuss]}

In more modern usage, it can be a superlative compliment ("you da man!") indicating that the subject is currently standing out amongst his peers even though they have no special designation or rank, such as a basketball player who is performing better than the other players on the court. It can also be used as a genuine compliment with an implied, slightly exaggerated or sarcastic tone, usually indicating that the person has indeed impressed the speaker but by doing something relatively trivial.

See also[link]

• Absentee landlord
• Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
• New World Order (conspiracy theory)
• Ruling class
• The Establishment
• Power elite
• Corrections officer
• YTMND

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Lighter, J.E. (Ed.). (1997). Random House Dictionary of American Slang. New York: Random House.

Vivienne Westwood
Westwood in 2008.
Born	Vivienne Isabel Swire (1941-04-08) 8 April 1941 (age 71) Tintwistle, Derbyshire, England
Nationality	British
Education	University of Westminster, Middlesex University
Occupation	Fashion designer/Businesswoman
Spouse	Sam Westwood (1962–65) (divorced); 1 child Andreas Kronthaler (since 1992)
Children	Ben Westwood (born 1963) Joseph Corré (born 1967)
Awards	British Fashion Designer of the Year 1990, 1991 and 2006.
Labels	Vivienne Westwood

Dame Vivienne Westwood, DBE, RDI (born Vivienne Isabel Swire on 8 April 1941) is a British fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream.^[1]

Life and career[link]

Early life of Vivienne Westwood[link]

Westwood was born Vivienne Isabel Swire in the village of Tintwistle, Derbyshire^{[N 1]} on 8 April 1941,^[2] the daughter of Gordon Swire and Dora Swire (née Ball), who had married two years previously, two weeks after the outbreak of World War II.^[3] At the time of Vivienne's birth, her father was employed as a storekeeper in an aircraft factory; he had previously worked as a greengrocer.^[3]

Aged 17, Vivienne and her family moved to Harrow, London. She studied at the Harrow School of Art - University of Westminster, taking fashion and silversmithing, but she left after one term saying, "I didn't know how a working-class girl like me could possibly make a living in the art world".^[4] After taking up a job in a factory and studying at a teacher-training college, she became a primary school teacher.^[2] During this period, she also created her own jewellery, which she would sell at a stall on Portobello Road.^[2]

In 1961, Vivienne Swire met Derek Westwood, a Hoover factory apprentice, in Harrow.^[5] They married on 21 July 1962 and Vivienne made her own wedding dress for the ceremony.^[5] In 1963, she gave birth to a son, Benjamin Westwood.^[5]

Malcolm McLaren[link]

When she met Malcolm McLaren, it signified the end of Westwood's marriage to Derek. Westwood and McLaren moved to a council flat in Clapham. Westwood continued to teach until 1971 when Malcolm decided to open a boutique at 430 King's Road called "Let It Rock" (later known variously as "Sex", "Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die", and "Seditionaries") and now Worlds Ends, where Westwood sells her Vivienne Westwood label clothing.

Westwood created clothes which McLaren conceived, drawing inspiration from bikers, fetishists and prostitutes.^[6] During this period, McLaren became manager of the punk band Sex Pistols and subsequently the two garnered attention as the band wore Westwood and McLaren's designs. While living in their flat in Clapham, Westwood and McLaren had a child, another son, named Joseph.^{[citation needed]}

Punk era[link]

Westwood was deeply interested in the punk fashion phenomenon of the 1970s, saying "I was messianic about punk, seeing if one could put a spoke in the system in some way".^[5] The "punk style" included BDSM fashion, bondage gear, safety pins, razor blades, bicycle or lavatory chains on clothing and spiked dog collars for jewellery, as well as outrageous make-up and hair. Essential design elements include the adoption of traditional elements of Scottish design such as tartan fabric. Amongst the more unusual elements of her style is the use of historical 17th and 18th century cloth cutting principles, and reinterpreting these in, for instance, radical cutting lines to men's trousers. Use of these traditional elements make the overall effect of her designs more shocking.

Vivienne Westwood company[link]

Westwood has five exclusively-owned shops; three in London, one in Leeds, and one in Milan. Franchise stores are located in Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, three in Manchester (Spring Gardens in the city centre and two others)^{[citation needed]} and most recently, in FH Mall, Nottingham (20 March 2008), and in Blake Street, York (11 September 2008).^{[citation needed]} She also has showrooms in Milan, Paris and Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]}

Artistic collections[link]

The pair of heels designed by Westwood in which Naomi Campbell famously stumbled while modelling at Westwood's fashion show in 1993^[7]

Her first catwalk show was presented in 1981, featuring the collaboration of Westwood and McLaren. The theme that year was Pirates.^[8] Subsequent Westwood's theme titles in the early years included Savage (1982), Buffalo Girls (Autumn/Winter 1982–83) and Clint Eastwood, (Autumn-Winter 1984–85) under the Worlds Ends Label she stopped producing the line in 1985 to concertrate on her Vivienne Westwood Lines. Vivienne Westwood says (“Sometimes you need to transport your idea to an empty landscape and then populate it with fantastic looking people.”).^[8]

She dubbed the period 1981 to 1985 New romantice and 1988 -1991 "The Pagan Years" during which "Vivienne’s heroes changed from punks and ragamuffins to ‘Tatler’ girls wearing clothes that parodied the upper class."^[9] The period from 1993 to 1999 she called "Anglomania" and from 2000 to the present – "Exploration".^[10][11]

Her Autumn/Winter 2005/06 Propaganda Collection drew inspiration from her archive, reinterpreting designs using Wolford's exclusive knitting technology. Westwood has worked in close collaboration with Wolford since 2003.^{[citation needed]} In 2006, she collaborated with Nine West, whose shoes are not designed directly by Westwood, however the Nine West brand name shares its label with Westwood. Westwood's Gold Label and MAN hats are created by Prudence Millinery. In December 2003, she and the Wedgwood pottery company launched a series of tea sets featuring her designs.^{[citation needed]}

The first major retrospective of her work was shown in 2004–5 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. The exhibition, created from approximately 145 complete outfits grouped into the themes from the early 1970s to the present day, was drawn from her own personal archive and the V&A's extensive collection. The designs ranged from early punk garments to glamorous "historical" evening gowns.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2011 her collections were presented at the catwalk of The Brandery fashion show in Barcelona.^[12]

Notable clients and commissions[link]

Princess Eugenie wore three different Westwood designs for the pre-wedding dinner, the wedding ceremony and the after-wedding party at the 2011 royal wedding.^[13]
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, wore Westwood to Royal Ascot in 2009. ^[14]

Artistic influence[link]

Westwood has influenced the launch of the careers of other designers into the British fashion industry. She employed the services of Patrick Cox to design shoes for her Clint Eastwood collection in 1984. The result was a prototype for nine-inch-heeled shoes like the ones worn by supermodel Naomi Campbell when she fell during a Westwood fashion show in Paris in 1993.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Sex and the City

Westwood's designs were featured in the 2008 film adaptation of the television series Sex and the City. In the film, Carrie Bradshaw becomes engaged to long term lover Mr. Big. Being a writer at Vogue, her editor invites her to model wedding dresses, including a design made by Westwood. The dress is subsequently sent to Carrie as a gift, with a handwritten note from Westwood herself, and Carrie decides to use the Westwood gown.

However, despite being invited to participate in the making of the movie, Westwood was unimpressed with the costuming by renowned stylist Patricia Field. She walked out of the film's London premiere after 10 minutes, publicly criticising the clothing featured as being frumpy and boring.^{[citation needed]} The wedding dress has been described as one of the movie's most iconic features, leading Westwood to approach the producers about being involved in making a sequel.^[15]

Political involvement[link]

Westwood is widely known as a political activist.

In April 1989 Westwood appeared on the cover of Tatler dressed as then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The suit which Westwood wore had been ordered for Thatcher but had not yet been delivered.^[16] Westwood's appearance on Tatler reportedly infuriated Thatcher.^[16] The cover, which bore the title "this woman was once a punk", has become memorable cover for the magazine and was included in The Guardian's list of the best ever UK magazine covers.^[17] Additionally, the cover date, April 1989, on the magazine bears the words "April fool".^[18]

Dame Vivienne stated on television in 2007 that she had transferred her long standing support for the Labour Party to the Conservative Party, over the issues of civil liberties and human rights.^[19]

On Easter Sunday 2008, she campaigned in person at the biggest Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament demonstration in ten years, at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston, Berkshire.^[20]

In September 2005, Westwood joined forces with the British civil rights group Liberty and launched exclusive limited design T-shirts and baby wear bearing the slogan I AM NOT A TERRORIST, please don't arrest me. Westwood said she was supporting the campaign and defending habeas corpus. "When I was a schoolgirl, my history teacher, Mr. Scott, began to take classes in civic affairs. The first thing he explained to us was the fundamental rule of law embodied in habeas corpus. He spoke with pride of civilisation and democracy. The hatred of arbitrary arrest by the lettres de cachet of the French monarchy caused the storming of the Bastille. We can only take democracy for granted if we insist on our liberty", she said.^[21] The sale of the £50 T-shirts raised funds for the organisation.

Active Resistance Manifesto[link]

In a 2007 interview she spoke out against what she perceive as the "drug of consumerism",^[22] and she attended the première of The Age of Stupid, a film aiming to motivate the public to act against climate change.^[23]

She later created a manifesto of Active Resistance to Propaganda,^{[24][clarification needed]} which deals with the pursuit of art in relation to the human predicament and climate change.^[25] In her manifesto, she "penetrates to the root of the human predicament and offers the underlying solution. We have the choice to become more cultivated and therefore more human – or by muddling along as usual we shall remain the destructive and self-destroying animal, the victim of our own cleverness."^[26]

Against the claim that anti-consumerism and fashion contradict each other, she said in 2007 that "I don't feel comfortable defending my clothes. But if you've got the money to afford them, then buy something from me. Just don't buy too much."^[25]

Vivienne Westwood's London[link]

In January 2011, Westwood was featured in a Canadian-made television documentary called Vivienne Westwood's London in which she takes the viewer through her favourite parts of London, including the Courtauld Institute of Art, the Wallace Collection, Whitechapel (accompanied by Sarah Stockbridge), Hampton Court, the London Symphony Orchestra, Brixton Market and Electric Avenue, and the National Gallery. Her purpose, she said, was to share her love of high culture and to impress its importance on the current generation: "I love this city and its culture. I want to encourage people to love art and believe that culture can save the world. Culture is about people's outlook on the world and along with art, is the anchor that holds us together as a people and gives life greater meaning."^[27]

Recognition[link]

In 1992, Westwood was awarded an OBE, which she collected from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.^[28] At the ceremony, Westwood was knicker-less, which was later captured by a photographer in the courtyard of Buckingham Palace. Westwood later said "I wished to show off my outfit by twirling the skirt. It did not occur to me that, as the photographers were practically on their knees, the result would be more glamorous than I expected",^[29] and added "I have heard that the picture amused the Queen".^[29] Westwood advanced from OBE to DBE in the 2006 New Year's Honours List for services to fashion,^[28] and has thrice earned the award for British Designer of the Year.

Personal life[link]

Dame Vivienne Westwood is currently married to her former fashion student, Austrian-born Andreas Kronthaler. For 30 years Westwood lived in the council flat in Clapham until, in 2000, Kronthaler convinced Westwood to move into a Queen Anne style house built in 1703, which once belonged to the mother of Captain Cook.^[30] Westwood does not watch television or read newspapers or magazines. However she is a keen gardener.^[31]

Children[link]

• Ben Westwood, son of Vivienne and Derek Westwood, is a photographer of erotica.
• Joseph Corré, son of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, is the founder of lingerie brand Agent Provocateur.^[32]

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vivienne Westwood

• Official website
• Vivienne Westwood designer profile at Fashion Model Directory
• The Incomplete Sordid works of Vivienne Westwood & Malcolm McLaren for their stores SEX and Seditionaries
• "Vivienne Westwood exhibition website, featuring resources and activities". Victoria and Albert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1231_vivienne_westwood/. 
• Vivienne Westwood on ELLE TV