The Punk Movement

As with my experience with the Beatles and a thirst for discovering new music, I also have fallen heavily in love with the Punk movement of the late 70s - again providing an escape during this stressful time of self-isolating during Covid but also peaking my emerging multidisciplinary interests with the marriage of music, fashion, photography, live shows and attitudes.

The music of the Sex Pistols, the fashion of Vivienne Westwood in her SEX clothing store and the DIY, "fuck it" attitude are a far cry from the things I enjoyed during level 4 a few years ago but are strongly influencing my work and rejecting excess and perfectionism.  

• Disenfranchised youth of Britain

• Counter-culture. Youth rebellion

• McLaren, who managed The New York Dolls who made a big impact despite their short time. He turned his interests to The Strand who quickly became the Sex Pistols

• In 1977 in honour of the Queen's Silver Jubilee, the Sex Pistols created "God Save the Queen" - a counter-culture anthem. Rejected and censored by radio stations

• Attacking conformity and deference to The Crown

• Their behaviour during interviews also brought a lot of attention

Vivienne Westwood

• Frequently used tartan, zippers, studs, safety pin, leather, inflammatory words to create a distressed and DIY aesthetic

• Backlash against flared denim of the 60s

• Relationship between fashion, music and counter-culture

• Commodified and marketed the movement successfully with partner Malcolm McLaren (manager of the Sex Pistols)

• Firmly believed in people taking charge of their own fashion and not buying into brands, despite becoming a brand herself

• Intrigued by 50s rock and roll like Elvis Presley and Chuck Barry, vastly preferring over glam rock taking over at the time. Romanticising the 1950s

• Reinterpreted renditions of Teddy Boy fashion

• The Beatles and supergroups of the time were becoming stale and no longer in touch with the youth and their economic struggles

• The New York Dolls' impact was big and McLaren wanted to bring that to the UK

• Punk was about rejecting establishment, being loud and aggressive. McLaren knew he could package this

• Her ever-evolving shop eventually became SEX. A backlash against retail at the time. 

• The main commodity was punk itself

• BDSM culture and fetishism became central to her fashion. Dominated the streets and the charts together

• After the break-up of the Sex Pistols, Westwood would go onto high-fashion with Pirate" which was a great success

• Westwood used her fashion to express her controversial viewpoints