Westwood collection supports Tibet (From Your Local Guardian)

Westwood collection supports Tibet

12:23am Saturday 4th October 2008 in

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Vivienne Westwood is showing her support for Tibet by using a special design on a bag for her new fashion collection.

The renowned fashion designer used an off-white shoulder bag printed with the Tibet flag and logo Keep Tibet Alive in time for models to showcase it at Paris Fashion Week, which is due to finish on Sunday.

It has been incorporated into her Spring 2009 ready to wear collection.

Philippa Carrick, chief executive of the Tibet Society, said it was "encouraging and heartening" to see Westwood showing her support for Tibet, especially "since the Olympics ended it seems Tibet may have slipped under everybody's radar", she said.

She added: "This year has seen much suffering inside Tibet following demonstrations in March and the country remains under lock-down.

"Tibetans are now living under very tight security, with widespread curfews in place and an intensifying "re-education" programme in the monasteries.

"I urge people not to forget Tibet and follow Vivienne's example by raising Tibet's flag wherever they can and showing the Chinese government the issue of Tibet will not be forgotten."

Self-styled queen of punk Westwood, 67, injected controversy into the fashion industry with her risque creations.

In 1971 she opened a shop with Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren named Let It Rock, which in 1972 was renamed Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die. The boutique was renamed again in 1974, this time simply called SEX.

She is perhaps better known for wearing a flesh coloured, transparent dress with no knickers and a strategically placed fig leaf when she collected her OBE from the Queen in 1992.