Vivienne Westwood, Sex Pistols, and the Origins of Punk Fashion
Behind the legendary punk image of the Sex Pistols was the design vision of Vivienne Westwood
As mainstream disco and rock and roll music thrived in the 1970s, the underground subgenre of punk was a burgeoning phenomenon. Youth counterculture throughout the United Kingdom wanted to disturb the peace of English society, doing so by performing loud music, sporting what was then considered shocking clothing and makeup, and expressing revolutionary sentimentalities through their selfhood wherever applicable. If '70s punk was best represented by anyone, it was the English band the Sex Pistols; namely the frontmen Johnny Rotten (John Lydon) and Sid Vicious (John Simon Ritchie).
British designer Vivienne Westwood’s store Sex (stylized as SEX) was the hub of punk fashion throughout the ‘70s, supplying the tangible pieces to craft a look and the intangible element of shock and controversy that punks wished to emulate. Between the fetish wear and the vulgar name itself, the store stood out among the otherwise upstanding shops on the prestigious shopping destination of King’s Road. As her former partner Malcolm McLaren co-founded the shop with her and managed the Sex Pistols, it only made sense that Westwood would become the band’s outfitter.
Ragged tee shirts, bondage pants, graphics of the queen, and safety pin embellishments are a few among many of Westwood’s most notable motifs seen on the Sex Pistols and other artists alike. As her designs garnered increased visibility as seen on figures from the subcultural movements from punk to new wave, what we know now as punk fashion can largely be attributed to Westwood’s work. A pioneer in bringing environmental and social activism to subversive clothing, Westwood’s interpretation of the punk aesthetic has always been a visual expression of the heretic lifestyle and the rhetoric of insurgents.
Punk still remains a significant fashion and cultural collective into the 2020s; whether through a modern mode of expression or a nostalgic reflection. Hulu's 2022 drama series Pistol recounts the days of the Sex Pistols, and if the stories of the bandmates themselves may be new to current audiences, the fashion is certainly familiar. Though current punks might cringe at punk's development of going from alternative to mainstream, Westwood's work in the scene is nonetheless viewed as historically significant, and its anti-establishment mindset is even more timely now than before.
