BRINTONS has paid tribute to late fashion icon Vivienne Westwood - who designed carpet dresses for the company's first marketing campaign.

The Kidderminster company collaborated with the designer throughout the 90s, and produced a number of "memorable" dresses made out of carpet.

Dame Vivienne died on Thursday (December 29) “peacefully, and surrounded by her family in Clapham, south London,” her representatives said.

She was born in Cheshire in 1941 and is largely accepted as being responsible for bringing punk and new-wave fashion into the mainstream with her eccentric creations.

Brintons chief executive Duccio Baldi described Dame Westwood as a "pioneer of British fashion."

He said: "We were saddened to hear the news last week regarding the death of Vivienne Westwood.

"A pioneer of British fashion, she forged the way in iconic designs.

"We were truly proud to have collaborated with her in our memorable “dresses” marketing campaign featuring Brintons carpets in the 1990s.

"We express our sincere condolences to her family."

Former Shuttle editor Clive Joyce remembers the time he was invited by Brintons to a glitzy campaign launch event in London in the mid-90s.

He said: “She had an entourage of bodyguards who I think kept her movements quite tight on the night, so people couldn’t get too close to her.

“I do seem to recall getting a few words with her. She was like royalty at this event".

Mr Joyce said the dresses themselves have "gone down in fashion history".

“It must have been difficult because the materials she was using were very heavy," he added.

“I was hoping that they would bring some of the dresses to Kidderminster and we could have an exhibition in the town.

"It was a real coup for Brintons".

One social media user described the carpet dress designs as "stunning."

Another described Dame Westwood as an "innovator" and said: "I’ll never forget this genius campaign for Brintons Carpets".