Kate Winslet Goes From Period Pieces to Piercings in Vivienne Westwood Biopic

October 9, 2008

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If Billy Idol was a woman, he’d be Vivienne Westwood. Vogue UK confirmed the rumor heard front-row at London Fashion Week that Titantic star Kate Winslet will be trading her corset for a Mohawk and nose ring to play the rebel yell designer. The as-yet untitled film will document the flame-haired Brit’s rise to fame from her punk roots in the 1970s safety pining garments for the Sex Pistols to the present day.

“The script is going well and Kate will play Vivienne,” the Westwood office told press over the weekend. “It has been a long time in planning but we’re very excited that it’s happening.”

To prepare, Kate will be spending time with Dame Viv to pick up that saucy attitude and study the exact shade of fire-brand red she’ll need to reprise from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And presumably learn to walk in the designer’s wicked 12-inch moc-crock platforms that famously felled supermodel Naomi Campbell. We wonder if she’ll dare recreate Vivienne’s Buckingham Palace flashing incident. Spiderman star Kristen Durst was originally thought to be in the running for the rumored production. On the heels of shows like “Project Runway” and Tommy Hilfiger’s “The Cut,” biopics about Valentino and iconic designer Coco Chanel will give economy-crunched style hounds their fix without the credit card melt down.

Best known as the provocateur of punk, the grande dame regularly thumbed her nose at authority, even turning royal tartan into a f-ck you statement. Post-grunge, her famous plaid Mary Jane shoes have gone from FTP to simply freaking fabulous. Shop ShoeCompare.com and be a tartan tart in these traditional print MJs from Funtasma or in flirty pink by Madden Girl.