Graduate Fashion Week, which is currently being held at the Old Truman
Brewery in London until Wednesday, June 8, has named Dame Vivienne Westwood
as lifetime patron.
The event, which showcases the work of more than 1,000 fashion
graduates, turns 25 this year, and to celebrate Westwood’s patron role the
organisation has also revealed that the Graduate Fashion Week Ethical Award
is to be renamed the Vivienne Westwood Ethical Award.
The Ethical Award in association with the Ethical Fashion Forum is a
competition open to all students and Graduate Fashion Week member
universities with projects that have roots in ethics or sustainability, and
the winner will receive an internship at Westwood’s studio in London.
There will also be a separate award of a year’s free membership to the
Ethical Fashion Forum’s online platform will be awarded to the three top
students in the competition, granting 12 months access to premium
sustainable fashionable intelligence and information.
Commenting on her new role, Westwood said: “Buy less, choose well, make
it last. If people bought only beautiful clothes that would be Climate
Revolution. Let us cultivate talent.
“Thank you Jeff Banks, I am delighted to become a patron of Graduate
Fashion Week and to create the Vivienne Westwood Ethical Award.”
Graduate Fashion Week chairman, Mark Newton-Jones added: “Vivienne is
one of the most inspiring individuals in the British fashion industry. She
proves that design talent, vision, and commerce make for a great mix, and
propagate strong ideas. Her work has influenced, and been worn and loved
by, fashion students in the UK since the 1980s.
“She is a design genius – an icon of style and a national treasure. The
way she developed her business, attracting the press, collaborators and
investment, has created a template for generations of students. As her
business continues to grow, without compromise, she is more exciting,
inspiring and relevant than ever.”
Joining Westwood as a Lifetime Patron is fashion photographer Nick
Knight.
Image: Graduate Fashion Week – Vivienne Westwood