Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood dies aged 81

British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood has died at the age of 81.

The pioneering fashion designer made a name for herself on the fashion scene in the 1970s, with her androgynous designs, slogan t-shirts and irreverent attitude towards the establishment.

Ms Westwood died “peacefully, and surrounded by her family in Clapham, south London”.

In a statement, her husband and creative partner Andreas Kronthaler said: “I will continue with Vivienne in my heart.

“We have been working until the end and she has given me plenty of things to get on with. Thank you darling.”

Climate change, pollution, and her support for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange were all fodder for protest T-shirts or banners carried by her models on the runway.

She dressed up as then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher fora magazine cover in 1989 and drove a white tank near the country home of a later British leader, David Cameron, to protest against fracking.

“The only reason I am in fashion is to destroy the word ‘conformity’,” Ms Westwood said in her 2014 biography. “Nothing is interesting to me unless it’s got that element.”

Additional reporting Reuters