Punk pioneer brings unique brand of fashion to exclusive shopping centre

Dame Vivienne Westwood, the punk pioneer and enfant terrible of British fashion who became the Grand Dame' of haute couture, is to open her first Scottish store next month.

Work is already underway at a boutique on the first floor of the Princes Square shopping centre in Glasgow, with Dame Vivienne's spokesman claiming the store could be open as early as the end of next week.

Dame Vivienne, who has been courting controversy for four decades, has continually flirted with Scottish iconography and used tartan in several collections but has only now given the go-ahead for a franchised store to open north of the border, 10 years after a Westwood boutique was launched in Leeds.

As well as Birmingham, London, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Nottingham there are Vivienne Westwood stores in Taiwan, Russia, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Italy and France.

When it opens in the Buchanan Street centre fashionistas will be able to buy from Westwood's Gold and Red label lines, as well as the Anglomania and Man collections and accessories.

The opening of such a marque name as Westwood's in Glasgow also buoys up the city's retail sector at a time when it is predicted to become a major casualty of the credit crunch.

It is understood Trinity Retail, which holds the Vivienne Westwood franchise, has signed a 10-year lease at an initial rent of £50,000 per annum for the 735 sq ft boutique. An opening event is to be staged at the store but this is unlikely to take place until mid-autumn.

Vivienne Westwood style house spokesman Rufus Abbot said: "The genius thing is that there is always a Vivienne Westwood market. It's one of those brands people will spend their rent on to own.

"And any time you buy a piece of Westwood clothing within two years it becomes a collectors item. In over 20 years in the rag trade I've never known a brand to have a following like it."

He added: "We're very cautious with growth. For the past decade a lot of our business has been based in Asia and we've been looking to break into new territories and thought there was no need to rush into further UK expansion.

"Now we're back on the domestic market and, in Scotland, Glasgow is the only serious retail location for luxury goods companies. We've thought, right, it's about time to head to Glasgow'."

Having helped spark the Teddy Boy revival in the early 1970s with the opening of Let It Rock in Kings Road, London while still a primary school teacher, Westwood and her then partner Malcolm McLaren pioneered the punk look when the shop changed its name to Sex, selling rubber S&M clothing, ripped clothes and T-shirts with pornographic text and images.

The punk style began to gain notoriety when the Sex Pistols wore clothes from Westwood and McLaren's shop at their first gig, with McLaren becoming the band's manager.

The use of zips, rips, chains, bondage, tartan and slogans continue to have an impact on high fashion to this day. By the 1980s she had all but given up on youth fashion, incorporating ethnic elements, the feminine figure at the time of the big shoulders, velvet and knitwear, usually with a historic influence.

By 2007 she had become a Dame, won the Queen's Export Award and received the Outstanding Achievement in Fashion Design prize at the British Fashion Awards.

The opening of a Westwood store in Glasgow is the latest in a line of designer names for the city, including Mulberry, Ralph Lauren, Cruise, Bravissimo and Agent Provocateur, coincidentally founded by her son Joe Corre.

Simon Smith, of Princes Square owners Redevco, said: "Vivienne Westwood is not just a coup for us but also for Glasgow, which has built up an excellent European reputation as a great shopping destination."