‘Diamonds are for money, clubs are for war’: Vivienne Westwood’s radically reimagined playing cards, to be sold by The Vivienne Foundation for Greenpeace

Vivienne Westwood (1941-2022) was the high priestess of punk, a maverick who was never afraid to take risks, creating astonishing, controversial outfits that influenced fashion for more than 40 years. From her anti-establishment street-style clothing in the 1970s featuring chicken bones and nipple zips, to her hugely popular corsets in the 1990s, she had an eye for the iconoclastic and the raw artistry to create it.

If people thought her shock garments were designed to be humorous, they were very wrong. She was deadly serious about her art and her political beliefs. A committed anarchist ready to tear down the system in the 1970s, she said of the punk era: ‘It was youth against age. I was trying to create a rebellion.’

By the 2000s, Westwood had become a fearless defender of the environment. She worked in an industry that was destructive to the planet, but she campaigned tirelessly to improve standards. ‘Buy less, choose well, make it last,’ she counselled, and encouraged younger designers to use recycled fabrics. She inaugurated the Climate Revolution campaign at the London Paralympics in 2012 to rally charities, NGOs and individuals to take action against ecocide and disengaged political leaders. ‘I want you to help me save the world,’ she said. ‘I can’t do it on my own.’

In 2007 she wrote a manifesto arguing that culture was the stimulus needed to save the planet, and after travelling with Greenpeace to the Arctic to witness the devastation caused by oil companies, designed the ‘Save the Arctic’ T-shirt (her T-shirts always carried a message or a provocation). Dozens of celebrities, including Grayson Perry, Pamela Anderson, Kate Moss and Hugh Grant, were photographed wearing them.

In 2017, Westwood designed a set of playing cards representing the most pressing problems affecting the Earth. ‘Diamonds are for money, clubs are for war, spades are for motherfuckers (earthwreckers),’ she explained, adding that hearts stood for love and culture.

Until the end of her life she continued working on the playing cards, which evolved into the versions offered on 25 June 2024 at Christie’s in London: THE BIG PICTURE — Vivienne’s Playing Cards: Collect the cards. Connect the cards, comprising ten digital prints, each signed by Vivienne Westwood, copy number one from an edition of ten, in a unique hand-embroidered portfolio box.

Commissioned by The Vivienne Foundation and created in collaboration with Redbreast Editions, London, Vivienne’s Playing Cards combine slogans with graphic images in a cut-and-paste style characteristic of Westwood’s satirical aesthetic. In selecting the playing cards to be produced as large-format limited-edition prints, Westwood initiated her final work in a lifetime of creative activism.

One print features a picture of the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, wearing a T-shirt with Vivienne Westwood on the front, and the words ‘True Punk’ written across his chest. Another depicts the designer dressed as Margaret Thatcher from a 1989 Tatler magazine cover. It is uncanny how similar they look. ‘I just put a little doubt in my eyes,’ she said when asked about her impersonation of the Iron Lady.

The proceeds of the sale, organised by The Vivienne Foundation, will support Greenpeace, a charity close to the fashion designer’s heart. Former executive director John Sauven says that Westwood ‘worked with all her extraordinary creativity to raise awareness about the climate emergency and the threat to the oceans and rainforests. Her genius and energy, captured so beautifully and elegantly in her punk creations, lived on in her campaigning and the pack of playing cards she created to share her philosophy for change.’

The Vivienne Foundation is the owner and custodian of Westwood’s art work. ‘It was Vivienne’s ambition prior to her death to raise a significant amount of money for Greenpeace to help it protect our planet,’ it states. ‘The Vivienne Foundation would like to express its thanks to John Sauven, Jeff Banks and all involved in this project for their work helping to realise Vivienne’s wishes.’

Murray Macaulay, head of Prints and Multiples at Christie’s in London, says Vivienne’s Playing Cards are part of a long tradition of polemical printmaking: ‘They are a powerful provocation to collectively step up to the challenges we face.’

Vivienne Westwood: The Personal Collection is on view until 28 June 2024 at Christie’s in London. The Part I live sale takes place on 25 June. Part II, an online sale, is open for bidding until 28 June.

To celebrate this landmark occasion, a limited-edition catalogue and tote bag have been produced to accompany the auctions. Pre-orders now open