Vivienne Westwood had a 'long-standing love affair' with Scotland and helped transform the fortunes of 'forgotten' textiles, a leading fashion commentator has said.
With her signature dyed red hair the legendary designer continually flirted with Scottish iconography and tartan was ever-present in her collections, from the start of her career when she was at the forefront of the London punk scene alongside art student Malcolm McClaren.
Dame Vivienne's fashion house confirmed yesterday that the 81-year-old had died "peacefully and surrounded by her family" in London on Thursday evening.
Paisley-born fashion designer and Glasgow School of Art graduate Pam Hogg was among those in the industry paying tribute, describing her as "a completely unique and fearless forerunner."
When Westwood opened her first Scottish store in Glasgow's Princes Square in 2008 her global brand director Christopher Di Pietro said she had a "natural affinity with Scotland" and wanted to grow the business in a city with a "loyal following".
READ MORE: Tributes paid to Glasgow hairdressing pioneer after her death at the age of 75
"It was a long-standing love affair," said Glasgow-born fashion writer Lynne Coleman "and something that began her career really."
"She took tartan at that pivotal moment in history to create the punk movement.
"It wasn't an accident, it was a deliberate way of tapping into the past and rebellion.
"To make tartan the focal point of her beginnings was so punky but she by far out of any designer got its duality and the fact that it could be wrapped around an emblem for Royalty and an emblem for war and romance.
"Her and tartan are just synonymous with one another."
She said she "strongly believed" that in years to come her legacy will be celebrated on an equal footing with designers such as Coco Chanel.
READ MORE: Iconic fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood dies at the age of 81
"I know she put building blocks in place with her creative business partner who has come and said she's given him a giant to-do list," said the fashion writer and author, who lives in Guernsey.
Dame Vivienne also played a major role in transforming the image and market for Harris Tweed fabric and products.
Her Autumn-Winter 1987/88 collection was instrumental in reviving its use as a fashion fabric and led to other designers using the cloth in their collections, giving a much-needed boost to the local industry.
However, the collaboration sparked a furore when in the early 1990s The Harris Tweed Authority started legal proceedings against the designer for infringing on their signature orb and Maltese cross design.
READ MORE: Punk pioneer with 'affinity for Scotland' opens new Glasgow store
Both parties came to an agreement that would allow Westwood to use the mark but with certain clauses.
The Harris Tweed Authority said the designer was committed to working with businesses that use small-scale production methods and traditional skills.
Writing on Facebook it said: "Vivienne Westwood began working with the Harris Tweed industry in the 1980s, when along with a group of young fashion designers, including Scotland’s Bill Gibb, she was invited to visit the island of Lewis & Harris.
"HTH Chief Executive Ian Angus Mackenzie remembers their visit at that time to his weaving shed located in the village of Vatisker, Back.
"A Harris Tweed friendship that started in a weaver’s shed and has continued over the decades as Vivienne Westwood went on to select our fabric designs for many of her most iconic collections.
"Our condolences go out to her husband Andreas, her sons Joseph and Ben, and all of her friends, family and colleagues."
It wasn't just Scotland's textiles that caught her eye.
In 2014, she used her London fashion week show to endorse the Scottish independence campaign.
Westwood sent her models down the catwalk wearing “Yes” badges and said Scottish independence "could be the turning point towards a better world".
She said: “They already have a more democratic financial system, eg no tuition fees, and they care more for people. They just wouldn’t do what we’re doing in England ... In England there is hardly any democracy left.
"The government does what it wants. That which should belong to people – it gives it all to business.”
She later told reporters: “I hate England … I like Scotland because somehow I think they are better than we are. They are more democratic.”
She described the Better Together campaign as “frightened and stupid”.
Glasgow hosted a major retrospective of Westwood's work in 1999 as part of the city of architecture and design celebrations.
It was the first ever produced by Andreas Kronthaler her design partner and widower and was the first time she had been able to watch one of her shows from the audience.
Boxer Chris Eubank was one of the models.
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