FILE – Dame Vivienne Westwood poses for a photo after collecting her insignia from Britain’s Prince Charles during an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London on June. 9, 2006. Westwood, an influential fashion maverick who played a key role in the punk movement, died Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022, at 81. (Fiona Hanson, Pool via AP, File)

LONDON (AP) — English designer Vivienne Westwood has died at 81. Her fashion house announced her death Thursday on its social media platforms, saying she died peacefully in South London surrounded by friends and family. A cause was not immediately disclosed. Westwood was an influential fashion maverick who played a key role in the punk movement. Westwood’s fashion career began in the 1970s with the punk explosion, when the onetime primary school teacher’s radical approach to urban street style took the world by storm. But she went on to enjoy a long career highlighted by activism and a string of triumphant runway shows and museum exhibits.