The Vivienne had a moving reason behind creating their drag name. The RuPaul's Drag Race UK legend tragically died aged just 32 over the weekend, with their close friend and publicist Simon Jones confirming the news. The star, whose real name was James Lee Williams found fame back in 2015 as the UK Drag Ambassador for the American series of Ru Paul's Drag Race. They went on to compete and win the UK series in 2019 before later competing in the seventh series, which was the All-Stars series in 2022.
But after becoming a hit, many were left puzzled by their name. Speaking previously, The Vivienne revealed their touching tribute to the late fashion designer Vivienne Westwood who died aged 81 back in December 2022. And it appears it had a lot to do with James' choice of clothing.
"I love Vivienne Westwood," The Vivienne said. They went on to say at a previous ITM: "When I moved to Liverpool everyone used to call me Vivienne, as I was head to toe in Westwood. So when I started doing drag it was a natural progression, but I didn’t want one of those cheap, nasty, slutty drag names so I thought of 'The Vivienne' and here she is, there's only one of them.".
Fashion designer Vivienne, was a trailblazer like the drag star. Over the course of her life and career, she was known for pushing the boundaries and being vocal about causes close to her heart. In the final years of Westwood's life, she dedicated her time to supporting the release of Julian Assange as well as being vocal about her eco-activism.
