Posthumous Vivienne Westwood project raises funds for Greenpeace

A collection of playing cards designed by the late Dame Vivienne Westwood to raise awareness about environmental and political issues has been auctioned off for charity.

Titled The Big Picture – Vivienne’s Playing Cards, the project was created by The Vivienne Foundation in aid of environmental charity Greenpeace, selling for a total of £37,800 according to auction house Christie’s.

Before her death in December 2022, pioneering fashion designer and activist Dame Vivienne conceived the idea, taking 10 digital graphics to highlight messages close to her heart, printed on large-scale autographed cards.

The posthumous project was announced on what would have been Dame Vivienne’s 83rd birthday in April.

The limited-edition cards, printed on Hahnemuhle Museum Etching 350gsms paper and signed with pencil, were presented in a unique linen-covered, hand-embroidered box.

Among the collection was a card which features a black and white photo of a young Dame Vivienne with short, spikey hair which has the words “ME PUNK” written across it and “save the world” printed along the border.

Another features a skull and cross bone design over a red and green coloured map of the world with the words “too fast to live / too young to die” marked over it alongside handwritten notes making reference to “uninhabitable land”.

The designer often featured playing cards in her campaigns and designs, with her idea to use them for her Climate Revolution project originally conceived in 2017.

For the project, she designed a set of playing cards using strong graphics to convey a “culture-led economic strategy to save the world”.

The Vivienne Foundation previously said: “Throughout her lifetime Vivienne used her voice to lead a relentless fight for justice. Continuously highlighting the corruption in the world and trying her best to make the world a better place.

“It was Vivienne’s ambition prior to her death to raise a significant amount of money for Greenpeace to help them protect our rainforests and oceans and save the planet from climate change.

“Vivienne felt passionately driven to act when she learned about the Democratic Republic of Congo wanting to open up its precious rainforests for oil exploration and development.”

The foundation, which is the owner and custodian of Dame Vivienne’s art work and copyrights, also thanked those who helped bring the fashion designer’s wishes to life and that it was “proud” to be part of the collaboration.