From fashion to the field: Vale Vivienne Westwood and Pelé

Two very-loved international celebrities died on December 29 and the worlds of football and fashion are mourning their passing.

With the taste of FIFA’s World Cup still fresh on our lips, breaks during the broadcasts were interspersed with news that football legend Pelé was not well. 

Yesterday in São Paulo, Brazil time, it was announced that he died at the hospital from multiple organ failure, a complication of colon cancer, at the age of 82.

Last year Pelé had surgery to have a colon tumour removed. In November 2022, ESPN Brasil reported that Pelé had been taken to hospital with ‘general swelling’, along with cardiac issues and concerns that his post-tumour chemotherapy treatment was not having the expected effect.

In December the Albert Einstein Hospital where Pelé was being treated, said his tumour had advanced and he required ‘greater care related to renal and cardiac dysfunctions’.

In 1961 the government of Brazil under President Jânio Quadros declared Pelé an ‘official national treasure’. His country will mourn his passing forever.

Pelé is survived by his wife and seven children.

The Queen of punk!

If you know about fashion or punk, or both, then you know the name, Vivienne Westwood. 

It was announced on Twitter by her fashion house that she died peacefully yesterday, surrounded by her family, in Clapham, South London. ‘The world needs people like Vivienne to make a change for the better’ said the news feed.

Westwood, who was the British Fashion Designer of the Year in 1990, 1991, 2006, also was awarded an OBE in 1992 and a DBE in the 2006 New Year’s Honours List ‘for services to fashion’.

Westwood was also widely known for her activism and in recent times her support of Julian Assange.

Westwood is survived by her husband and two children.