We always knew Vivienne Westwood was a badass. Yes, we always knew, we always liked her, and we always secretly wanted to be her. We were doing a bit of research and found more irresistibly fascinating facts about this 69-year-old fashion rebel turned design world icon. For example, did you know that she married her former student, a handsome young 25-year-old Austrian man when she was 50? Yes 50, that’s twice his senior. And did we mention handsome?

A woman of many titles, the Queen of Punk, three times the British Designer of the Year, and in 2006 Dame by the Prince of Wales, Westwood broke out onto the fashion scene during the birth of punk in early seventies London. Westwood was a critical influence on the punk movement in England as her second husband Malcom McLaren was the Sex Pistols’ first manager. The Sex Pistols wore her edgy designs on stage and shopped in her and her husband’s legendary boutique SEX in London’s Chelsea district (which is to this day still owned by Westwood and now known as World’s End).

In Dame Westwood’s early years as a clothing designer, she took a great deal of inspiration from bikers, fetishists, and prostitutes, creating raw, very punk rock appropriate garments. She and McLaren worked together to cultivate a look that would have a lasting impact on the punk scene. Bondage gear, Scottish tartan fabric, and safety pins are just a few of the elements incorporated into Westwood’s designs that have been embedded into our culture as iconic punk styles.

Pirates was Westwood’s first runway show, as a collaboration with McLaren in 1981. It was at this time you started to see Vivienne’s signature style start to take form. Vivienne looked to the past for inspiration and incorporated 18th century draping and pattern making in the garments. Historical romanticism then became a prominent theme in all of her future collections.

After a few years of  selling her collections in hers and McLaren’s London shop, Westwood got picked up by Armani to launch her own label. Shortly after, she and McLaren broke up. Then on her own, she allowed herself to experiment with new techniques and styles, digging deeper into historical costume for influence. Undergarments and structure become a focus of hers as well, as she pioneered the Underwear As Outerwear movement with corsets and crinolines.

Through the last four decades, Vivienne Westwood has continued to shock and inspire awe in the fashion world with her boundary pushing designs and bold personality. She is not afraid to take risks professionally and doesn’t think twice about speaking her mind. Some of her runway shows have had very clear, and at times, quite controversial political messages, including the debut of her Red Label collection in 2008, where the models held signs with slogans like “Justice for the Prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.”

Vivienne was asked to be a part of the first Sex And The City movie– she designed Carrie’s wedding dress. At the premier,  she left after only ten minutes, claiming “I thought Sex And The City was supposed to be about cutting-edge fashion and there was nothing remotely memorable or interesting about what I saw.” Ouch! We wouldn’t have wanted to be on the receiving end of that comment, however we find her brutal honesty rather refreshing.

Vivienne Westwood is operating four fashion lines under her command: Gold Label (semi-couture), Red Label (ready-to-wear), Westwood Man, and Anglomania (diffusion line). Over the course of her career, she has created an empire of VW branded products, consisting of collaborations with many companies in countless fields. In 2001, she worked with Wedgwood and designed a collection of tea sets. Most recently, she designed limited edition tablecloths for the eco-charity Cool Earth. Other collaborations include rugs and pillows for The Rug Company, wallpaper for Cole and Son, eco friendly shoes for Melissa Shoes, a shoe collection for Nine West, a denim collection for Lee Jeans, and a sofa collection for Molteni & C.

With all of those business partnerships to keep up, designing boundary pushing, trendsetting fashion collections multiple times a year, and keeping up that trademark tangerine hair color, we don’t know how she has the energy to get up and make herself a cup of tea in the morning. To do all of this at 69, we guess it’s true, staying active keeps you young. We just can’t get enough of this chick.

One more irresistibly fascinating fact about the Queen of Punk: When she was titled Dame in 1992 and was awarded her Order from the British Empire at Buckingham Palace, she spun around in her dress for a photographer and flashed him, and she was as they say in England, knickerless.

Katherine Tyznik.HighStreet.New York

Dark walls are an inexpensive way to bring sophistication, drama and warmth into an otherwise stale, stuffy room.

Painting the walls of an otherwise unspectacular space ebony, navy or charcoal adds depth and substance to a room that a lighter shade could not achieve. Therefore, you may want to consider transforming your comfortably traditional space into a dark, luxurious retreat.

The key to making this look work is to have enough light in the room to balance the dark. Strangely, this is not at all difficult. Working with a room that has at least a small amount of natural light can be helpful, while too much may ruin the effect.  Investing in quality lighting from multiple angles will allow for a very particular, almost contemplative ambiance. Strategically placed lamps create a soft glow that balances the masculine with the feminine. Floor lamps, pendants and halogen track lighting can highlight accessories or art hung on the walls. Which brings us to your art and accessories…

Dark walls do wonders for your prized and even not-so-prized possessions. Anything that is light in color, (which is alot…) will look downright elegant on your deep, dark canvas.  You can have so much fun with color against a dark palette because the groundedness of the backdrop balances perfectly the frivolity of exuberant color.  A world of color opens itself up to you in a new, reasonable way and accessorizing a room such as this becomes a sincere and easy pleasure as opposed to what can be a sometimes difficult Math equation.

Conspiring what to place against your dark walls can be liberating, and a real thrill if you are into the aesthetic rush.

If you decide to pursue the temptations of the darker side then consider also covering your ceiling or floor a light shade if this is not already the case.  Lighter, neutral colors and patterns moving through the dark space is another great way to balance and brighten the room. And let’s not forget texture.  Texture in design is always good but against the dark backdrop texture takes on a whole new level of excitement much like it’s colorful counterparts.

So consider wielding some sexy dark paint. Experiment with the reaction when you use white, yellow, fuchsia or cobalt.  See for yourself how almost all vibrant colors look terrific against espresso brown, dark navy or complex charcoal. It’s hard to go wrong here.  At HighStreet we painted our long, concrete hallway and the ceilings a vibrant, true yellow.  This gives our black offices a lift and glow that makes everything feel and look terrific and, I have to say, I do enjoy coming into my office each day to find that my work space is not some stale little box, but instead a sumptuous, infinite, warm and comforting environment that inspires me to settle in and conjure some serious creativity.

Leah Spurrier. Katherine Tyznik.  HighStreet

http://www.bjorgjewellery.com/2009/

Images from bjorgjewellery.com

But before all of this, she was, perhaps most influential to those of us in the United States as the founding editor of Elle Decoration UK, where she boldly pushed the boundaries of object-driven design beyond anything seen before, and introduced the new wave of modernism we so enjoy today.  In considering all of her accomplishments, ilse’s most revolutionary contribution to our world is the recipe blending design innovation with individual self expression, elevating lifestyle to a previously un-named level of spiritual evolution.  She may have no equal in bringing such freeing ideas to a wider audience.

ilse Crawford has been named one of Great Britian’s 30 most influential women by Harper’s Bazaar in the “Power Issue”,  for being “the person that defined the way we want to live”.

You may view the work of ilse Crawford at the site of her studio of Design and Art Direction: Studioilse, modern and emotional design at www.studioilse.com

ELLE DECORATION UK was incidentally, the most critical inspiration behind the creation of HighStreet and we’d like to thank ilse Crawford for her propelling light.

Thank you Ilse Crawford.

Leah Spurrier. HighStreet