Go Unlimited with Magzter GOLD
Get unlimited access to 10,000+ magazines, newspapers and Premium stories for just
Try GOLD - Free
Questions for Vivienne Westwood Ltd over bullying claims against CEO
The Guardian
|February 15, 2025
From her 1975 "gay cowboys" T-shirt to pioneering catwalk collections that challenged gender norms, the late Vivienne Westwood has long been heralded as an LGBT+ icon.
But the fashion house she built over five decades faces serious questions about whether the late designer's values have endured, after allegations about homophobic bullying by its chief executive, Carlo D'Amario, were upheld by an independent investigation, the Guardian understands.
The Italian executive was accused by an employee in 2023 of using frequent homophobic slurs, bullying and discriminatory behaviour, it can be revealed.
An independent investigation by an employment barrister, which concluded in June 2023 after interviewing eight witnesses, upheld five of the complaints and found that D'Amario was likely to have broken employment law.
Yet, while the alleged victim of the bullying has left the company, D'Amario remains at the helm of the fashion house and enjoys a six-figure salary, company accounts suggest.
Vivienne Westwood Ltd did not return multiple requests for comment addressed to D'Amario and the company.
Questions over D'Amario's performance as the steward of the Vivienne Westwood brand first came to the fore in November last year, when Westwood's granddaughter - the designer and model Cora Corre - sensationally quit the company.
In her resignation letter, first reported by the Times, Corre accused D'Amario of misusing her grandmother's designs and contesting trademarks in a way that prevented the Vivienne Foundation - a not-for-profit organisation set up by the designer in 2019 that is separate from the business - from raising charitable funds.
Corre claimed that her grandmother had been "deeply unhappy" about how D'Amario was running the company and wanted him removed as its chief executive but that the Italian had "bullied" Westwood, who died in 2022.
The company did not comment on the allegations at the time.
This story is from the February 15, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM The Guardian
The Guardian
Scotland Triumph and trepidation infuse return to World Cup
Scotland is leaning into one of its most treasured traditions: embracing the hope and anxiety of a football World Cup, with a healthy dose of self-deprecating style.
2 mins
June 13, 2026
The Guardian
Violence in Belfast and Southampton has stirred fear and racism throughout the country as police struggle to get a grip on mobs Has unrest become the new normal?
As the people of Glengormley, on the northern edge of Belfast, tidied up and prepared for more violence in the midst of what has been described as a modern-day pogrom, a court 500 miles away in Southampton started to deal with its own outbreak of thuggery.
6 mins
June 13, 2026
The Guardian
Pure visual joy Hockney changed the world just by looking at it
David Hockney changed the world just by looking at it. His art was a feast of unabashed visual pleasure, one long orgy of the gaze, the delighted lifelong epiphany of someone who cherished flowers in a vase and freeways in the sun and thought endlessly about new ways of capturing such passing treasures.
4 mins
June 13, 2026
The Guardian
'Beware a vacuum' Why paramilitaries in Belfast decided not to stop the violence
As racist rioting unfolded in Northern Ireland this week, there was a striking dissonance behind the mobs and flames.
4 mins
June 13, 2026
The Guardian
Playing on enemy soil The tug of war facing Iran’s World Cup squad in the US
Iran will present a full-on challenge to Fifa’s “football unites the world” slogan next week by becoming the first country in World Cup history to compete on the soil of a host nation with which it is at war.
3 mins
June 13, 2026
The Guardian
Betfair owner delists from London market
The gambling group that owns Paddy Power and Betfair is to scrap its listing on the London Stock Exchange, in another blow for Britain’s shrinking stock market.
1 min
June 13, 2026
The Guardian
The World Cup bonus What late opening hours could mean for pubs and drinkers
Keir Starmer may have imagined a national morale-boosting programme when his government told hospitality venues that they could stay open until 2am on some World Cup match days, to allow for the time difference with the US, Mexico and Canada, the tournament’s co-hosts, which means many England and Scotland games kick off at night.
4 mins
June 13, 2026
The Guardian
The bee crisis Hidden health costs of world’s disappearing pollinators
There are few ways in and out of Nepal’s Jumla district. The Karnali highway, one of the world’s most dangerous roads, provides the only land link, splicing through the Himalayas to connect Jumla’s terraced valleys to the rest of the country.
3 mins
June 13, 2026
The Guardian
$960 for Keaton nail clippers? The boom in selling off dead celebrities' personal items
From Diane Keaton’s bowler hats and polka dot scarfs, to Gene Hackman’s used paint brushes, to Terence Stamp’s love letters from Jean Shrimpton and even Matthew Perry’s black leather wallet (his credit cards still inside), fans are being offered - for a price - increasingly personal items from the estates of dead celebrities.
3 mins
June 13, 2026
The Guardian
Trees may not store as much carbon as thought
Trees may not be able to store as much planet-heating carbon as hoped, a new study suggests, with researchers finding photosynthesis does not always lead to wood growth.
1 min
June 13, 2026
Listen
Translate
Change font size