Punked

Punk is described in the Dictionary (2017: online) as “a style or movement characterized by the adoption of aggressively unconventional and often bizarre or shocking clothing, hairstyles, makeup, etc., and the defiance of social norms of behaviour, usually associated with punk rock musicians and fans”.

We chose the punk era as our main influence throughout this project, due to Rita’s punk sprit and her love her alternative designers.

Punk fashion was completely unheard of until the mid 1970s. It started as a rebellion towards more upper-class individuals and people who dressed punk generally had a lower income or were students. The punk style was torn-up clothes bought from charity shops and customised to look more edgy. It deconstructed garments into new forms. Thomas (No date: online) advised “Whilst torn fabrics, frayed edges and defaced prints are now considered normal in the 21st century, in the 1970s it shocked many people, because it had never been seen before.  Until then fabric had been treated as a material to keep as pristine, new looking and beautiful as possible”.

Vivienne Westwood and then partner Malcom McLaren further pursued punk when they collaborated and opened a store on Kings Road in London, called ‘sex’ Milligan (2014). From then Westwood progressed on to become a designer and has continued to release new collections over the past 30 years. She is now known as one of the most influential fashion designers of her time; who heavily contributed to the punk fashion development.