VIVIENNE WESTWOODS's  Son Denounces DOCUMENTARY

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Back in January, Vivienne Westwood distanced herself from Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist, a feature-length film celebrating the artistry, activism and cultural significance of the designer.

Now, Westwood’s eldest son, Ben Westwood, has echoed his mother’s disappointment at the “mediocre” documentary, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival and is currently showing at London cinemas. In a statement given to Dazed, he denounced director Lorna Tucker’s use of free archive footage, rather than focusing on Vivienne's social, political and environmental campaign work, which was the original concept.

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“She chose to miss the real story,” Westwood said of Tucker’s narrative, which she formulated over three years following the designer. “Let alone illustrating Vivienne’s world view or her environmental work, the film does not even show her fashion properly… That film is on the cutting room floor.”

To make amends, Westwood goes on to suggest that Tucker returns all of the footage to the Westwood family, and uses the profits to make a generous donation to one of Vivienne’s charities - “One of the many charities you will not have heard about in Lorna’s film.”

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Just one day later, Tucker released the following comment in response to Westwood's statement:
Lorna Tucker responded with the following statement: “I have the utmost respect for Vivienne’s activism, which is integrated into the film as the passionate driving force of all she does. As a filmmaker, I wanted to create an authentic and entertaining portrait of an icon to excite and engage viewers. A significant level of access to Vivienne and her team was required in order to achieve this ambition and for this I am hugely grateful. I remain extremely proud of the film and thrilled by reactions from audiences around the world, who continue to be inspired by Vivienne’s inimitable energy and tenacity as captured in Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist.”