?The Women: Inspiration and Enterprise event made its UK debut on the morning of International Women's Day and Westwood was the keynote speaker.
'I came today to talk about climate change', she opened. 'I'm trying to recruit a group of ambassadors to promote the message because governments do very little about it.'
Fellow speakers at the event included fellow designer Anya Hindmarch, businesswoman Lynne Franks, chief executive of The British Fashion Council Caroline Rush, journalist Rosie Boycott and model Alex Wek. So if Westwood wanted to reach influential women with her message, she did just that.
Westwood went on to discuss education, capitalism, arts and culture, and the widening wealth gap in society. She also spoke of how she had recently persuaded her fashion model contacts to make donations to climate change charities, and that she is in the process of lobbying the government to encourage greater awareness of climate change.
But perhaps most inspiring were the quotes with which she closed her session.
'The treasure and glory of existence is to be able to discover the world we live in she said. You will become who you are, not by self absorption, but by having an interest in the outside world. And we need a different world."
Westwood: one of Britain's most revered designers, fervent environmental activists and now a philosopher too.
