KEY POINTS:
Trial and error
Clothes should communicate something about who you are. The majority of people on the street look quite dreadful - not because they make mistakes, but because they don't even try. They are lazy in their dress and take no time to express themselves through what they wear. People seem to think that by paying less attention to what they wear, the woman inside becomes more important than the clothes. Rubbish. The right clothes give you clout. Make the most of it.
Ditch the denim
If I could I'd banish all denim from the wardrobes of Britain. Jeans are so conformist. Minimalism in dress is a dominant force because people are so afraid of committing an "error" in their taste. They would prefer not to say anything in their clothes than to make a mistake.
Be bold
I wear the clothes I do because they proclaim, "I'm something to be reckoned with - take it or leave it." Great clothes don't necessarily ask you to wear them, or sell themselves on the hanger. Instead, you have to make a conscious decision about whether they are saying what you want to say.
Choose your audience
Use your wardrobe as a filter. The clothes I wear and design are inviting - people respond to them and want to come and talk to you. An added bonus is knowing that I'm not going to be bothered by conservative types coming up to me. They don't.
Think for yourself
Resist the propaganda of global advertising. If you accept it, then the people in control of the world are businessmen, not the leaders we have elected. Noreena Hertz's book, The Silent Takeover, makes this very clear.
Be honest
Speak your mind. People are sometimes more concerned with my opinions than my clothes and I'm sure this is because I've stayed independent. I won't be dictated to, and I don't have businessmen telling me what to do. I just try to communicate what I think.
Artistic licence
Engage with art. Art teaches us that others have thought differently and that there are other ways to understand the world. My favourite painters are Titian and Velazquez, and I particularly love 17th-century Dutch painting. The Laughing Cavalier, he's marvellous. Don't waste your time with conceptual or abstract art. It's the emperor's new clothes: there is nothing to see in it except what you invent.
Play to your strengths
Work out what you're good at - and stick to it. Fashion wouldn't have been my first choice of job. I did it because I could and you have to earn your living. The reason I continued was because I was full of ideas and I wanted to build on those ideas. Fashion is how I communicate them. If you feel that you have anything to say that may help, then you appreciate having the platform to say it.
* For more inspiration about thinking outside the square, visit Vivienne Westwood's "Active Resistance to Propaganda Manifesto" at www.activeresistance.co.uk
- INDEPENDENT
