Vivienne Westwood's niece leaves the brand and accuses CEO Carlo D'Amario

Cora Corré, granddaughter of the English designer Vivienne Westwood, model, and activist who worked for years at her grandmother's company, has left the brand to fully dedicate herself to the Vivienne Foundation. Corré — who is the daughter of Joe Corré, Westwood's son and former partner of Malcolm McLaren — shared the news of her demotion in an Instagram post, adding a comment about the company's management: «There has been a lot of confusion about my current role within the Vivienne Westwood company. Although the company bears my grandmother’s name, right now it doesn't seem to reflect her values. Vivienne taught me to always fight for what is right, and I want to stay true to that principle. In 2019, she created the Foundation to carry on her activism outside of the constraints imposed by the company’s CEO. Due to the breakdown of relations between the Vivienne Westwood company and the Vivienne Foundation, my role within the company has become untenable. In the future, I will focus my energy on honouring my grandmother's legacy through the Vivienne Foundation and continue the work that was so important to her.»

The controversy now involving Corré, Vivienne Westwood, the Vivienne Foundation, and CEO Carlo D'Amario actually began a month ago, when, after the release of the brand's collaboration with Palace, the non-profit expressed its concerns about the brand's future, sharing a statement that the values the designer always fought for — the foundation was created before she passed away with the goal of defending human rights, protesting capitalism, war, and trying to curb climate change — are not being respected by the brand’s management. In the statement, the Vivienne Foundation claims that the capsule was made «without consulting the foundation», despite the fact that the designer had transferred all of her creative and ownership rights to the non-profit, including those prior to 1993. «This shows a blatant lack of respect for Vivienne’s wishes, her legacy, and the Foundation,» the statement reads, concluding with the hope that «all parties will respect Vivienne’s wishes for the future»

Two years after Vivienne Westwood's passing, the leadership of CEO Carlo D’Amario is being questioned by the designer's granddaughter. According to the Times, there is more beyond Corré’s Instagram post. In a letter to the company’s staff, the 27-year-old reportedly requested the removal of D’Amario (who joined the company in 1986), claiming that the CEO is undermining all of Westwood’s humanitarian commitments over the years. «In the years before my grandmother’s death, she was deeply dissatisfied with how the company was being run,» the letter says, as reported by the Times. «It was her wish that D’Amario be removed and that the company be run in a way that respected her values.» In the letter, Corré even states that in her grandmother’s final years, D’Amario mistreated her and that the CEO tried to hinder the foundation’s charitable initiatives. Now, Corré will only serve as Campaign and Project Manager for the Vivienne Foundation.