Vivienne Westwood
Dame Vivienne Westwood

Excitement for the British Fashion Awards 2018 continues to build up with the announcement that Dame Vivienne Westwood will be honored with the Swarovski Award for Positive Change for her incredible contribution to the fashion industry and her continued work to promote and engage with the industry positively in making a global change for the benefit of the environment.

The Swarovski Award for Positive Change recognizes and celebrates individuals who have made a positive impact on society, the environment or both, and forms part of Swarovski’s efforts to promote a more sustainable future for us all. The recipients acknowledge the challenges our world faces and actively seek to address them using their resources to achieve change and positive impact.

Over the last 20 years Dame Vivienne has campaigned for several environmental and human rights charities and grass roots NGO’s – she is a trustee of Liberty, patron of Reprieve and campaigner for Amnesty International, War Child, Friends of the Earth and the Environmental Justice foundation, amongst others. Vivienne Westwood have dedicated a number of their shows and collections to raise awareness around these causes.

Since 2010 the brand has worked with the International Trade Centre a joint body of the United Nations, to produce bags through their Ethical Fashion Initiative. The programme currently supports the work of thousands of women from marginalized African communities and empowers informal manufacturers and craftspeople to enter the international value chain – providing an income for some of the poorest people in the world. The collections are created using recycled materials from slums and land fill and the income helps to stop the need to continue deforestation in the area.

For several years, Vivienne Westwood have actively supported the charity, Cool Earth in its efforts to save the rainforest and stop climate change. Cool Earth works with local communities to halt rainforest destruction. This ground-up approach has been proven to be the most effective way to mitigate the effects of global carbon emissions on climate change. By putting local people first, Cool Earth can safeguard the future of the world’s rainforests. Westwood has galvanized fashion industry friends to join the cause and dedicated 2 fashion shows to Cool Earth.

Dame Vivienne Westwood is also an ambassador for Greenpeace; in 2013 she designed its official ‘Save the Artic’ logo and in 2015 she launched a global campaign to stop drilling and industrial fishing in the area.

In September 2017, Vivienne Westwood, along with the BFC, and support from the London Mayors office, launched the SWITCH to Green campaign to bring the fashion industry together to lead in ambitious climate action. The ongoing campaign encourages industry leaders to commit to switch all UK offices and stores to a green energy supplier by 2020. As part of the SWITCH to Green campaign, Westwood uniquely brought together four of the biggest green energy suppliers to offer businesses quicker, measurable switches to a verified green provider.

Previous recipients of The Swarovski Award For Positive Change include Franca Sozzani (2016) and Maria Grazia Chiuri (2017).

The Fashion Awards is the main fundraiser for the BFC, a not for profit organization focused on promoting excellence in British fashion and supporting the future pipeline of creative talent. As part of its continued and generous support of The Fashion Awards 2018, Swarovski has pledged a £300,000 donation to the BFC Education Foundation in advance of this year’s event.

The Fashion Awards 2018 in partnership with Swarovski will be held on Monday, 10th December at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Vivienne Westwood by Mattia Passeri via Wikipedia