Gallery: Vivienne Westwood’s Tip...

Don’t call Dame Vivienne Westwood an environmental activist. The legendary British designer prefers the term “freedom fighter,” according to an interview with Metro on Sunday. “I’ve got a voice because I’ve got a lot of credibility as a fashion designer,” she says. “So I have been using my fashion for the last five or so years as a medium.” Westwood doesn’t shy away from doling advice, but it’s not a matter of “do as I say, not as I do.” “I ride a bicycle for convenience and I’m a person who doesn’t like to waste things,” she says. “I never waste food, for example. I also don’t eat meat. I’m a very privileged person living in this part of the world so I can make choices, and my preferred food really is just fruit and vegetables. You don’t need other food. Once you get into it, nothing else tastes so good.”

THE WESTWOOD WAY

Buy less: “Buy less, choose well and make it last. I really do think that people should exercise choice and not just consume without thought—sucking up stuff all the time, one thing after another.”

Go to art galleries: “The art lover is not consuming. He invests in the present world by engaging with the genius of the past. ‘You get out what you put in’ is my motto.”

Read: “The best fashion accessory is a book.”

Prepare your own food: “Buying and preparing your own food is to engage with the world. It gives you a sense of reality.”

Do it yourself: “Wear a piece of beautiful fabric, borrow stuff from your friends, and style it in with your own clothes.”

[Via Metro]