Isuue : 3 Volume: 2 December 2016
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? T A H Punk fashion is the clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewelry, and body modifications of the punk subculture. Punk fashion varies widely, ranging from Vivienne Westwood designs to styles modeled on bands like The Exploited to the dressed-down look of North American hardcore. The distinct social dress of other subcultures and art movements, including glam rock, skinheads, rude boys, greasers, and mods have influenced punk fashion. Punk fashion has likewise influenced the styles of these groups, as well as those of popular culture. Many punks use clothing as a way of making a statement.
Punk fashion has been extremely commercialized at various times, and many well-established fashion designers—such as Anna Sui, Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier—have used punk elements in their production. Punk clothing, which was initially handmade, became mass-produced and sold in record stores and some smaller specialty clothing stores by the 1980s. Many fashion magazines and other glamour-oriented media have featured classic punk hairstyles and punk-influenced clothing.
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PUNK ROCK RANCID VIVIENNE WESTWOOD BLINK-182THE OFFSPRINGS GREEN DAY
RAMONESMY
BAD RELIGION
CHEMICAL ROMANCETHE DICKIES
OPERATION IVY
SEX PISTOLS
GOOD CHARLOTTE BLACK FLAG
s ’ 0 7 E R O HARDC
NO THANKS 70’s punk rebellion
Punk rock was an intentional rebuttal of the perceived excess and pretension found in mainstream music (or even mainstream culture as a whole), and early punk artists' fashion was defiantly anti-materialistic. Generally unkempt, often short hairstyles replaced the longhair hippie look and the usually elaborate 1970s rock/disco styles. In the United States, dirty, simple clothes – ranging from the T-shirt/jeans/leather jacket Ramones look to the low-class, second-hand "dress" clothes of acts like Television or Patti Smith – were preferred over the expensive or colorful clothing popular in the disco scene. In the United Kingdom, a great deal of punk fashion from the 1970s was based on the designs of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren and the Bromley Contingent. Clothes sold in Malcolm McLaren’s shop influenced mainstream punk style. McLaren has credited this style to his first impressions of Richard Hell, while McLaren was in New York City working with New York Dolls. Deliberately offensive T-shirts were popular in the early punk scene, such as the DESTROY T-shirt sold at SEX, which featured an inverted crucifix and a Nazi Swastika. These T-shirts, like other punk clothing items, were often torn on purpose. Other items in early British punk fashion included: leather jackets; customized blazers; and dress shirts randomly covered in slogans (such as "Only Anarchists are pretty"), blood, patches and controversial images. Other accouterments worn by some punks included: BDSM fashions; fishnet stockings (sometimes ripped); spike bands and other studded or spiked jewelry; safety pins (in clothes and as body piercings); silver bracelets and heavy eyeliner worn by both men and women. Many female punks rebelled against the stereotypical image of a woman by combining clothes that were delicate or pretty with clothes that were considered masculine, such as combining a Ballet tutu with big, clunky boots. Musician PJ Harvey was noted as "appear[ing] immersed in rock 'n' roll" around the time of her album Dry in 1992, due in part to her "leather apparel, hair in a bun and black bovver boots".
s ’ 0 8 e h t f o n o i h s a f punk In the 1980s, new fashion styles developed as parallel resurgences occurred in the United States and United Kingdom. What many recognize as typical punk fashions today emerged from the 1980s British scene, when punk underwent its Oi!/street punk, and UK82 renaissance. The US scene was exemplified by hardcore bands such as Black Flag, Minor Threat, and Fear. The 1980s American scene spawned a utilitarian anti-fashion that was nonetheless raw, angry, and intimidating. However, elements of the 1970s punk look never fully died away. Some of the following clothing items were common on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and some were unique to certain geographic areas. Footwear that was common in the 1980s punk scene included Dr. Martens boots, motorcycle boots and combat boots; sometimes adorned with bandanas, chains or studded leather bands. Jeans (sometimes dirty, torn or splattered with bleach) and tartan kilts or skirts were commonly worn. Leather skirts became a popular item for female punks. Heavy chains were sometimes used as belts. Bullet belts, and studded belts (sometimes more than one worn at a time) also became common. Some punks bought T-shirts or plaid flannel shirts and wrote political slogans, band names or other punk-related phrases on them with marker pens. While this was not without precedent in the 1970s, the depth and detail of these slogans were not fully developed until the 1980s. Silkscreened T-shirts with band logos or other punk-related logos or slogans were also popular. Studded, painted and otherwise customized leather jackets or denim vests became more popular during this era, as the popularity of the earlier customized blazers waned. Hair was either shaved, spiked or in a crew cut or Mohawk hairstyle. Tall mohawks and spiked hair, either bleached or in bright colors, took on a more extreme character than in the 1970s. Charged hair, in which all of one’s hair stands on end but is not styled into distinct spikes, also emerged. A hairstyle similar to The Misfits’ devilocks was popular. This involved cutting a mohawk but leaving a longer tuft of hair at the front of the head. It is still popular to this day in the Horror-Punk scene. Body piercings and extensive tattoos became very popular during this era, as did spike bands and studded in chokers. Some hardcore punk women reacted to the earlier 1970s movement’s coquettish vibe by adopting an asexual style.
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Hardcore punk fans adopted a dressed-down style of T-shirts, jeans, combat boots or sneakers and crew-cutstyle haircuts. Women in the hardcore scene typically wore army pants, band T-shirts, and hooded sweatshirts. The style of the 1980s hardcore scene contrasted with the more provocative fashion styles of late 1970s punk rockers (elaborate hairdos, torn clothes, patches, safety pins, studs, spikes, etc.). Circle Jerks front man Keith Morris described early hardcore fashion as “the... punk scene was basically based on English fashion. But we had nothing to do with that. Black Flag and the Circle Jerks were so far from that. We looked like the kid who worked at the gas station or submarine shop. Henry Rollins echoes Morris’ point, stating that for him getting dressed up meant putting on a black shirt and some dark pants; Rollins viewed an interest in fashion as being a distraction. Jimmy Gestapo from Murphy’s Law describes his own transition from dressing in a punk style (spiked hair and a bondage belt) to adopting a hardcore style (shaved head and boots) as being based on needing more functional clothing. A scholarly source states that “hardcore kids do not look like punks”, since hardcore scene members wore basic clothing and short haircuts, in contrast to the “embellished leather jackets and pants” worn in the punk scene.
Anarcho
-punk
Anarcho-punk fashion usually features allblack militaristic clothing, a style that was pioneered by the English punk band Crass. A prominent feature is the heavy use of anarchist symbols and slogans on clothing items. Some who define themselves as anarcho-punks opt to wear clothing similar to traditional punk fashions or that of crust punks, but not often to the extreme of either subculture. Mohawk hairstyles and liberty spikes are seen. Tight trousers, bands T-shirts and boots are common. Hairstyling products often are used only if the company that manufactures it did not test them on animals. Leather, often avoided due to veganism, may be replaced with imitation leather or cloth in a similar design as leather products.
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Fans of Celtic punk often mix hardcore, street punk, Oi! and skinhead fashions with traditional Irish or Scottish clothing styles, including elements of highland dress. Common items include boots, sneakers, jeans, work trousers, kilts, grandfather shirts, T-shirts, hoodies, braces, black leather jackets, peacoats, donkey jackets, football shirts, flat caps, tuques, Tam O’Shanter caps and Trilby hats. Hair is usually cut relatively short.
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Crust punk can be traced back to Bristol (UK). In the late 70’s early 80’s, Bristol bands like Disorder, Chaos UK, Lunatic Fringe, Amebix, broke from the usual punk fashion confines, creating a disheveled DIY look originating in squatting and poverty. Typical crust punk fashion includes black or camouflage trousers or shorts (heavy work pants are popular for their durability), torn band T-shirts or hoodies, skin tight black jeans, vests and jackets (commonly black denim), bullet belts, jewellery made from hemp or found objects, and sometimes bum flaps. Many items of clothing are covered in patches and/or metal studs. Often, the patches display a political message. Clothing tends to be unsanitary by conventional standards, and dreadlocks are popular. Crust punks sometimes sew articles of clothing with found or cheaply bought materials, such as dental floss. Pants are sometimes held up with string, hemp, or vegan-friendly imitation leather.
Fans of cowpunk base their look on Southern United States poor boys: vintage western wear-like checked shirts, Perfecto motorcycle jackets, wifebeaters, overalls, trucker hats, work boots, acid wash jeans, and cowboy boots. Hair can be a short quiff, crew cut, long, or a psychobilly-style mohawk, and facial hair is acceptable for males.
k n u p w o C
Fans of dark cabaret and Gypsy punk often imitate the costumes of 1920s music hall, sideshow or burlesque performers, pejoratively referred to by some modern critics as “once fashionable trash.”Women such as Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls sometimes combine fetish wear such as garter belts, fishnet stockings or corsets with dress clothing, such as a top hat and tailcoat, or traditional Romani dress such as shawls, hoop earrings or colorful skirts. Men often wear vintage Bowler hats, battered fedoras, tweed cloth vests with more typical street punk fashions such as drainpipe trousers or heavy boots. Some artists, including Martyn Jacques of the Tiger Lillies, wear white makeup inspired by French mime artists and the Emcee from Cabaret.
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Henry Rollins and others in the American hardcore scene have eschewed elaborate punk fashions in favour of a basic style. There are several styles of dress within the hardcore scene, and styles have changed since the genre started as hardcore punk in the late 1970s. What is fashionable in one branch of the hardcore scene may be frowned upon in another. Personal comfort and the ability to mosh are highly influential in this style. For this reason, jewellery, spikes, chains and spiky hair are highly uncommon and discouraged in hardcore fashion. Plain working class dress and short hair (with the exception of dreadlocks) are usually associated with hardcore punk. Mute colors and minimal adornment are usually common. Elements of hardcore clothing include baggy jeans or work pants, athletic wear, cargo or military shorts, khakis or cargo pants, band T-shirts, plain T-shirts, muscle shirts, and band hoodies. Common sneakers include classic Adidas Originals, Converse, New Balance, Nike, Pony, Puma, Saucony and Vans. Boots are also somewhat common, especially Dr. Martens. Hardcore skinheads, sometimes known as “American punk skinheads,” are characterised by some of the same items as British skinhead fashion, but hardcore skinhead dress is considerably less strict than traditional skinhead or oi! skinhead style.
Hardcore
Horror punk Glam punk Contemporary to the garage bands of the early 1970s, glam punk fashion, pioneered by bands like the New York Dolls, includes glitter, androgynous make-up, brightly dyed hair, drainpipe jeans, bright colours like electric blue, elements of leather fetish wear, and unusual costumes like leopard print, spandex, or satin shirts. Leftover baroque pop clothing like ruffled pirate shirts or brocade were also worn, together with more typical glam rock fashions like platform boots, tartan, kipper ties, and metallic silver clothing like jumpsuits
Horror punk and death rock fashions are similar to Goth fashion. Black is the predominant shade. Death rock and horror punk incorporate "sexy" items such as fishnet stockings, corsets and elaborate make-up for men and women. The use of occult and horror imagery is prevalent on T-shirts, buttons, patches and jewellery. Other common adornments include band names painted on jackets or bleached into clothes, as well as buttons or patches indicating cities. The initials D and R (for Death Rock) is sometimes part of a cross bone logo, accompanied by other initials, such as C and A for California, N and Y for New York, or G and R for Germany. Hair may be in a death hawk style (a wider teased-out variant of the Mohawk hairstyle), an angled bangs style, or a Devi lock style.
Westwood Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood is a British fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream. Westwood came to public notice when she made clothes for Malcolm McLaren's boutique in the King's Road, which became famous as "SEX". It was their ability to synthesize clothing and music that shaped the 1970s UK punk scene, dominated by McLaren's band, the Sex Pistols. She was deeply inspired by the shock-value of punk—"seeing if one could put a spoke in the system".
Dame
s r a e y y l r Ea
Westwood was born Vivienne Isabel Swire in the village of Tintwistle Cheshire on 8 April 1941, the daughter of Gordon Swire and Dora Swire (née Ball), who had married two years previously, two weeks after the outbreak of World War II. At the time of Vivienne's birth, her father was employed as a storekeeper in an aircraft factory; he had previously worked as a greengrocer. She attended Glossop Grammar School. In 1958, her family moved to Harrow, London. She studied silver-smithing at Harrow School of Art, but left after one term, saying later, "I didn't know how a working-class girl like me could possibly make a living in the art world". After taking up a job in a factory and studying at a teacher-training college, she became a primary school teacher. During this period, she created her own jewellery, which she sold at a stall on Portobello Road. While she continued teaching and simultaneously making jewelry, this led to her discovering design when she met Malcom McLaren who became a major inspiration to her designs in Punk Fashion. In 1962, she met Derek Westwood, a Hoover factory apprentice, in Harrow. They married on 21 July 1962; Westwood made her own wedding dress. In 1963, she gave birth to a son, Benjamin (Ben) Westwood.
As the son of British designer Vivienne Westwood and Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, Joe Corré probably doesn’t need to prove his punk bona fides — or maybe he does. And as the founder of Agent Provocateur lingerie, Corré has drawn a fair bit of controversy — his brand lives up to its name with its daring, frequently explicit videos featuring models like Kate Moss and celebrities like Kylie Minogue and Maggie Gyllenhaal. A flair for the provocative and a flair for punk have come together in Corré’s latest stunt: Over Thanksgiving weekend, on the 40th anniversary of the Sex Pistols’s “Anarchy in the U.K.,” the punk scion and businessman set more than $6 million in punk memorabilia ablaze on the banks of the Thames. Ostensibly protesting Punk London, a celebration of the movement that had the Queen’s endorsement (there’s nothing less punk than royalty; the Queen might be quirky, sure, but not punk) and the support of many British cultural institutions, Corré was joined by his mother Westwood for the bonfire, where he burned effigies of politicians like David Cameron and Theresa May, stoked the flames with rare records and custom garments, and set off fireworks. Corré has been promising to set fire to his punk memorabilia since March. Sitting in a chair, in tortoise-rimmed glasses, a sweater, and an oxford shirt, he told Dazed, “I think the statement is important.” (He preceded that by acknowledging that he and Westwood were still discussing what, exactly, it was that they were trying to say.) He first attempted to sell his original acetate of “Anarchy in the U.K.” on eBay; when that failed, he decided to burn it all down. “We never had a strategy then, that’s why we never got anywhere,” Westwood announced to the waiting crowd during the Nov. 26 bonfire, referring to the early days of punk. After debuting a rap tape and declaring Hillary Clinton evil, she presided over the burning of millions of dollars’ worth of museum-caliber punk artifacts, because apparently punk is more about a DGAF ethos than any particular aesthetic. Indeed, Corré said he thought his dad would find the whole affair “hilarious.”
Punk era
Westwood was one of the architects of the punk fashion phenomenon of the 1970s, saying "I was messianic about punk, seeing if one could put a spoke in the system in some way”. The "punk style" included BDSM fashion, bondage gear, safety pins, razor blades, and bicycle or lavatory chains on clothing and spiked dog collars for jewelry, as well as outrageous make-up and hair. Essential design elements include the adoption of traditional elements of Scottish design such as tartan fabric. Among the more unusual elements of her style is the use of historical 17th- and 18th-century cloth-cutting principles, and reinterpreting these in, for instance, radical cutting lines to men's trousers. Use of these traditional elements makes the overall effect of her designs more "shocking".
Biography
In October 2014, the authorized biography Vivienne Westwood by Ian Kelly was published by Picador. Paul Gorman described it as "sloppy" and "riddled with inaccuracies" on the basis of multiple errors in the book including misspelling the names of popular rock stars “Jimmy” Hendrix and Pete “Townsend” and misidentifying the date of the Sex Pistols’ first concert and McLaren’s age when he died in 2010. Picador publisher Paul Baggaley told The Bookseller: “We always take very seriously any errors that are brought to our attention and, where appropriate, correct them.] A spokesman for Pan MacMillan, which published an Australian edition of the biography, confirmed that the publisher’s lawyers were handling the matter. Westwood is also a noted author of books, such as Fashion in art, in which she explores the worlds of fashion and arts, the untimely interlinking of both worlds.
Vivienne
Fashion
Collection
Westwood was the designer who often let her clothes speak for themselves, as independent designs and as her own statements of culture. This idea that she uses her clothing as a statement of her own is a motif consistent throughout her time as a designer. Although this is also a factor as to why she was ridiculed as a designer, it was such a strong proclamation to his and her designs that she remained this way within her collections. This idea partially was attributed to her past collaborations with Gary Ness, who assisted Westwood throughout her designing with inspirations and titles for her collections. McLaren and Westwood's first fashion collection to be shown to press and potential international buyers was Pirate. Subsequently the partnership of McLaren and Westwood - which was underlined by the fact that both their names appeared on all labeling - showed collections in Paris and London with the thematic titles Savages, Buffalo/Nostalgia Of Mud, Punkature, Witches and Worlds End 1984 . After the partnership with McLaren was dissolved, Westwood showed one more collection featuring the Worlds End label: "Clint Eastwood" She dubbed the period 1981-85 “New Romantic” and 1988–91 as “The Pagan Years” during which “Vivienne’s heroes changed from punks and ragamuffins to ‘Tatler’ girls wearing clothes that parodied the upper class”. From 1985-87, Westwood took inspiration from the ballet Petrushka to design the mini-crini, an abbreviated version of the Victorian crinoline.
Vivienne Westwood’s opinions are more up-to-date and of the moment than his, of course. Hanging from her neck is a large headshot of Chelsea (née Bradley) Manning, with the caption TRUTH in big letters beneath it. Stuck to her stomach are the words ‘CLIMATE REVOLUTION’. There are two words attached to her sleeves, but both are at such an angle as to be unreadable. Down one of her legs the word ‘REVOLUTION’ is repeated. Since 2010, Dame Vivienne has been keeping an online diary, which a publisher has now reduced by half for a fancily produced book, chockfull of colour photographs. ‘Reading it, you will access my point of view,’ she writes, approvingly, ‘which is completely heretical to that of the status quo regarding culture and political economy.’ In fact, to see Vivienne Westwood as ‘completely heretical’ is to overegg the pudding. Three-quarters of her views will prove reassuring to readers of The Guardian, and viewers of Channel 4 News. She is against fracking, drones and global warming, and in favour of WikiLeaks, the Occupy movement and the overthrow of capitalim She believes that the world is governed by a conspiracy of the rich, and, ‘the rich are racing as fast as they can to destroy the world, and the poor are fighting to stop them’. Ias we believe the propaganda that the world will carry on as normal.’ e remaining quarter of her opinions is infinitely more traditional, and would find favour with readers of The Daily Telegraph and devotees of the Royal Family. She favours classical music over pop, and the Old Masters over Andy Warhol and Tracey Emin. Furthermore, she believes that our monarchy ‘gives stability and provides social cement and national identity’.
Its mini-length, bouffant silhouette inspired the puffball skirts widely presented by more established designers such as Christian Lacroix. The mini-crini was described in 1989 as a combination of two conflicting ideals - the crinoline, representing a “mythology of restriction and encumbrance in woman’s dress”, and the miniskirt, representing an “equally dubious mythology of liberation”. In 2002, Westwood designed the theatrical costumes of the Opera Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto. Produced by “Arturo Toscanini Foundation” David Guido Pietroni and Maurizio De Santis, the Opera was represented in Piazza del Campo in Siena, Italy. From the live shooting of the show he produced the DVD entitled Rigoletto Story. The exhibition, created from approximately 145 complete outfits grouped into the themes from the early 1970s to the present day, was drawn from her own personal archive and the V&A's extensive collection. The designs ranged from early punk garments to glamorous "historical" evening gowns In 2006, she collaborated with Nine West, whose shoes are not designed directly by Westwood; the Nine West brand name shares its label with Westwood. Westwood’s Gold Label and MAN hats are created by Prudence Millinery. From 12 November 2004 – 30 January 2005, she was featured in a retrospective show “Vivienne Westwood - 34 years in fashion” at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. The exhibition, created from approximately 145 complete outfits grouped into the themes from the early 1970s to the present day, was drawn from her own personal archive and the V&A’s extensive collection. The designs ranged from early punk garments to glamorous “historical” evening gowns.
Westwood
McLaren Born in 1946 in London, England, Malcolm McLaren was one of the creative forces behind the sound and attitude of the Sex Pistols. With a passion for style and social friction, the daring McLaren went on to manage several other bands following the Pistols' demise in 1978, as well as record several albums of his own material. He died in Switzerland from complications related to cancer on April 8, 2010.
Early years
Artist, musician, band manager. One of the creative forces behind English punk rock and the Sex Pistols in particular, Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was born January 22, 1946, in London, England. The son of a Scottish engineer, he was raised primarily by his maternal grandmother, whom he later credited with fostering his well-regarded subversive spirit. As such, school was not a perfect fit for the creative McLaren. He attended more than half a dozen different art schools, including Harrow Art School, where he befriended Jamie Reid, who would later serve as the brains behind the Sex Pistols' provocative graphics. His struggles in school led one institution to expel him and another, Croydon College of Art, to try to have him committed to a mental institution. In 1971 McLaren dropped out of school for good and opened a boutique shop in Chelsea. Initially called Let It Rock and later renamed Too Fast to Live Too Young to Die, the store specialized in 1950s "Teddy boy" fashions.
Life in Music
McLaren's world changed when the New York Dolls, a glam-rock band that performed in high heels, visited his shop one day. McLaren and the musicians quickly hit it off and eventually he followed the band back to the United States, where he worked as its manager. McLaren brought an unusual approach to his job, pushing the band to shock its American audiences as much as possible. In one instance he had the Dolls perform in Maoist Red Guard uniforms and play in front of a hammer-and-sickle flag. But the Dolls' run was short-lived, and after the group broke up, McLaren returned to London intent on trying to ramp up what he'd tried to do in the States. He found his new cause in a group of musicians headed up by lead singer John Lydon, later renamed Johnny Rotten due to the condition of his teeth. In every shape and form, the Sex Pistols was the product of McLaren's imagination. He put the band together and orchestrated the outrage that made them the toast of the English punk rock scene. Rotten called McLaren "the most evil person on earth." With singles like "Anarchy in the U.K." and "God Save the Queen," the Pistols climbed the charts in Britain. The group's short run consisted of just one album, the 1977 release Never Mind the Bollocks: Here's the Sex Pistols. In 1978 the group embarked on its first and only American tour. It quickly concluded when Rotten walked off the stage at a performance in San Francisco, leaving the band behind and marking the end of the Pistols as a group. Even with the band's demise, McLaren continued to stay heavily involved in the music scene. He went on to manage several other acts, and in 1983 issued an album of his own, Duck Rock, which featured a combination of world music and hip-hop. Several other albums followed, including Fans (1984), Waltz Darling (1989), and Paris (1994).
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Over the last several years of his life, McLaren stayed busy with several film, television and radio projects. He was one of the producers of the docu-drama Fast Food Nation (2006) and oversaw the production of a pair of BBC2 radio presentations, Malcolm McLaren's Musical Map of London and Malcolm McLaren's Life and Times in L.A.. McLaren fathered a son with his first partner, designer Vivienne Westwood, and was in a relationship with another partner, Young Kim, at the time of his death. He'd been battling cancer for several months and passed away at a clinic in Switzerland on April 8, 2010. His varied, bombastic career was driven, he once said, by some advice an old art schoolteacher had given him. "We will all be failures," the educator told the young McLaren. "But at least be a magnificent, noble failure. Anyone can be a benign success."
Recording artist and fashion designer Malcolm McLaren came to fame as manager of the Sex Pistols. Later, he recorded several albums of his own material.
Malcolm
40 years of punk This photograph was also taken in Wardour Street, close to The Marquee Club, in 1978. I took just two frames and didn’t find out her name. That was until two weeks ago when we met again, brought together by Facebook magic.Her name is Beth Cinamon and, unbelievably, she’s really just as pretty 38 years on.Her dad is a very famous book designer called Gerald Cinamon and we talked about typography.
Derek Ridgers didn’t plan to be a photographer. Drawn in by his love of music, he first used a camera as a means to get closer to the stage."There was no one there to throw me out", he remembers, "so I’d run down the front with my camera and just hop over the barrier and pretend to be a photographer. While jostling with the photographers Derek managed to see Eric Clapton and Pete Townsend at close quarters. "I did actually take half a roll", he says, “and when I got them processed they weren’t bad. So I got it in my mind that I could pretend to be a photographer a bit more often.” In this fashion he went to more shows and took more pictures. Then in 1976 things began to change. "In '76 the audience became more interesting than the bands", he says. As he turned his camera away from the stage, Derek focused on the unique characters in the audience who were finding self-expression through a new movement. However, these first wave punks were far from the stereotypical image we might imagine today."Most of the early punks didn’t look like punks anyway", he says. “They just looked like young people who would alter their clothes: very often it would be school uniform or there would be bin liners, a few safety pins but not very many. The ethos of punk is really 'do it yourself’. Mohican.”
During '77 and '78 Derek was a regular at The Roxy, The Vortex, The Marquee Club and many more venues that have since passed into punk folklore. He wasn’t a punk himself - "I used to turn up in a cardigan", he remembers with a smile - but his skill as a photographer created a genuine connection between his subjects. "I wanted it to be a moment between me and them", he says, describing his shooting style. You can see this intimacy reflected in a playful pose or through the eye contact as his subject stares straight down the lens. Derek’s new book, 'Punk London 1977’, brings together over 130 images from this period. Part fashion study, part cultural history, it succeeds in capturing the creative explosion that took place in 1977 as the grotty basement clubs of Soho became the cultural center of the universe.
I remember being at The Vortex the night that Elvis died. It was announced from the stage and virtually every one of the punks there cheered. After which, Danny Baker got up, seized the mic and explained exactly how radical Elvis had been in his youth and how cheering his death was so stupid. It shut everyone up. This was some time before Danny Baker became famous - at that point he was just a fanzine writer - but it took considerable balls to do that in front of a hostile punk crowd and I admired him for it.