Vivienne Westwood criticises documentary about her life, director defends it

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jan 24, 2018

British designer Vivienne Westwood has criticised Lorna Tucker’s feature film Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on Saturday.

The designer said the documentary, produced by London-based film company Dogwoolf, was ‘mediocre’ as it failed to accurately convey her activism.

But director Lorna Tucker defended the piece. "Vivienne knows I have the utmost respect for her activism, which is integrated into the film as the passionate driving force of all she does," she said. "As a director, I wanted to make a film that would engage a wide global audience by creating an authentic portrait of an artist and activist. I’m very proud of the film, and so honoured that it’s one of the 16 films selected for competition at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.  Vivienne is a huge inspiration to me, and I hope audiences go away feeling the same.”

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Set to be released in the UK in March, the film captures Westwood’s inspirations and career through a series of interviews with her inner circle of collaborators, including her son Joseph Corré. It combines both new footage and old archival shots, aiming to portray the designer’s nature as a fashion designer and activist.

But the legendary designer distanced herself from the documentary, sharing on Twitter a statement that read: “The Vivienne Westwood documentary set for release this year ‘Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist’ has been made and produced by a third party and as it stands isn’t endorsed by Vivienne Westwood.

“Lorna Tucker asked to film Vivienne’s activism and followed her around for a couple of years, but there’s not even five minutes [of] activism in the film. Instead there’s lots of old fashion footage which is free and available to view online. It’s a shame because the film is mediocre, and Vivienne and Andreas are not.”

This is not the first time that Lorna Tucker has created a film about fashion designers and Vivienne Westwood. In the past, she has created films for McQueen, Westwood and Nike, and produced promos for bands such as Unkle, The Cult, and Queens of The Stone Age.