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Dame Vivienne Westwood, the Priestess of Punk has died aged 81, having brought punk and politics to the world of high fashion.

Westwood’s unique mark on the fashion world and particularly the British fashion scene is undoubted, having been named both a maverick and a trailblazing British fashion designer.

Vivienne’s vast contribution to the history of fashion and development of styles is recognised in some of her most famed pieces. These include the ‘Mini Crini’, a drastically shortened version of the 19th-century hoop skirt, corsetry-detailed bra tops and bustiers that were worn as outerwear, and her twist on English upper-class dress with the tweed schoolgirl coats, to twinsets and pearls.

A fabulously Vivienne moment will always be remembered, when she went up to collect her OBE from Queen Elizabeth II in 1992 wearing no knickers. “I wished to show off my outfit by twirling the skirt,” she said. “It did not occur to me that, as the photographers were practically on their knees, the result would be more glamorous than I expected… I have heard that the picture amused the Queen.”

Not only did Westwood break boundaries in her collections, but they made statements that went beyond the fashion runway, using her designs as a political platform. In 2006 the spring/summer collection had T-shirts that read ‘I Am Not A Terrorist, Please Don’t Arrest Me’ while models in her autumn/winter 2008 show carried signs demanding fair legal trials for Guantánamo Bay prisoners. A banner in the spring/summer 2013 show called for a climate revolution.

Westwood wherever she went, whatever she designed had something to say and challenge. She was independent always and had a conviction and dedication that never faltered.