Victoria Beckham attended a star-studded memorial service for the late designer Vivienne Westwood on Thursday.
Vivienne died in December at the age of 81 ‘peacefully, and surrounded by her family’ in London’s Clapham, her representative said.
Former Spice Girl Victoria, 48, paid homage to the fashion icon with a skin-tight black dress which featured a high neck, long sleeves and a leg slit.
She boosted her height in a pair of stilettos and hid her eyes behind oversized sunglasses.
Victoria looked downcast as she arrived for the occasion at Southwark Cathedral in London.
Upset: Victoria Beckham attended a star-studded memorial service for the late designer Vivienne Westwood on Thursday
The service will be attended by family, friends and other figures from the world of fashion.
Kate Moss, Lily Cole, Lady Amelia Windsor and actresses Catherine Jenkins and Elle Fanning were among the biggest names seen arriving to the service.
Many styled themselves in classic Westwood fashion, with tartan designs and colourful bold tailoring on display.
Vivienne’s passing was announced back in December, after she died ‘peacefully’ at the age of 81.
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.
The statement from her representatives added: ‘Vivienne continued to do the things she loved, up until the last moment, designing, working on her art, writing her book, and changing the world for the better.
Chic: Former Spice Girl Victoria, 48, paid homage to the fashion icon with a skin-tight black dress which featured a high neck, long sleeves and a leg slit
Low-key: Victoria hid her eyes behind a pair of oversized sunglasses
Sad: Victoria looked downcast as she arrived for the occasion at Southwark Cathedral in London
Devastated: The service will be attended by family, friends and other figures from the world of fashion
‘She led an amazing life. Her innovation and impact over the last 60 years has been immense and will continue into the future.’
It also said that The Vivienne Foundation, a not-for-profit company founded by Dame Vivienne, her sons and grand-daughter in late 2022, will launch next year to ‘honour, protect and continue the legacy of Vivienne’s life, design and activism’.
Dame Vivienne, who was born in Cheshire in 1941, is largely accepted as being responsible for bringing punk and new wave fashion into the mainstream with her eccentric creations.
Her designs were regularly worn by high-profile individuals including Dita Von Teese who wore a purple Westwood wedding gown to marry Marilyn Manson, and Princess Eugenie who wore three Westwood designs for various elements of the wedding of William and Kate Middleton.
Dame Vivienne’s designs also featured in the 2008 film adaptation of Sex And The City, starring Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw.
As the self-styled queen of punk, she always injected controversy into the fashion industry with her risque creations.
The designer was largely responsible for anti-establishment punk fashion and became known for her subversive and eccentric take on traditional British style.
She and Malcolm McLaren, one-time manager of punk band the Sex Pistols, opened a shop called Let It Rock – also known as Sex – in the early 1970s where she began selling her outrageous outfits.
The punk style included bondage gear, safety pins, razor blades, bicycle or lavatory chains and spiked dog collars.
Some of her best-known creations include the Mini Crini, bustle-skirts, bondage trousers and 12-inch platform shoes, the type which famously tripped up supermodel Naomi Campbell.
Sad: Dame Vivienne Westwood died peacefully at the age of 81 on December 29
Black: Victoria dressed respectfully
Embrace: She hugged a friend outside the funeral
Shades: She wore huge sunglasses
Tresses: Her brunette locks were styled into perfect waves
Kisses: She put on an affectionate display with pals
Greeting: She gave one man a warm hug
She developed the idea of underwear as outerwear – and Madonna’s legendary conical bra worn on her Blonde Ambition tour, designed by Jean Paul Gaultier, would probably never have happened if not for Westwood.
She also transformed the corset from a symbol of female repression to one of power and sexual freedom.
After becoming a primary school teacher, she quit her job to become a seamstress of punk fashion and opened her shop on Chelsea’s Kings Road with her then partner McLaren.
The Sex Pistols wore the shop’s clothes to their first gig and Westwood’s first runway show was presented at Olympia in London in March 1981.
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