Design – 1970’s punk fashion In this essay I am going to discuss how social and political change influenced fashion and also the impact that music had on fashion during the 1970s punk era. This period was chosen for discussion because the punk style of fashion is extremely easily identifiable as a strong and powerful movement in the fashion world and is often referred to as iconic. The primary research that I will be using to support my essay include, music videos, lyrics, album covers, television footage from the time, photographic evidence and interviews.
These particular sources will prove extremely useful for this chosen era due to the significant change in fashion and Britain during the 1970s. The fashion designer that I will be looking at is Vivienne Westwood because her iconic designs and style was extremely influential and responsible for bringing punk fashions into mainstream fashion during the 1970’s. renowned for her trademark tartan fabric designs with an outrageous twist.
The economic downturn of the late 70s had a significant impact on the culture and fashion of the period. Vivienne Westwood was first noticed when she made clothes for Malcom mclarens boutique which later became famous as ‘SEX’. Vivienne Westwood and McLaren become recognised for their ability to combine clothng and music which began to shape the 70’s 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”.
The Term Paper on Anti-Fashion During The 70's
... all words that describe the fashions of Vivienne Westwood. She once said of her designs, “My aim is to ... of the trickle-across theory. Just like Vivienne Westwood adopted the punk movement, top designer Calvin Klein who ... of the 20th century, Punk. (http://designmuseum.org/design/vivienne-westwood.) Among other designs SEX carried Westwood and McLaren’s personal collections, which consisted ...
Westwood went on to open four shops in London, eventually expanding throughout the United Kingdom and the world, selling an increasingly varied range of merchandise, some of it linked to her many political causes such as CND, climate change and the civil rights group Liberty. During the 1970’s, clothing designers, manufacturers and retailers were quick to exploit the lucrative teenage market, by 1967 50% of womens clothes manufactured in Britain were sold to people in the 15-19 years age group. the changes in fashion were a product of a vareity of facotors: development f the affluent society, the growth of consumer culture, increasing asseritveness of teenagers (that’s where punks come in as they were politically aware like sex pistols with being an anarchists etc) the changing role of women, the growing frankness about sex and lack of sexual inhibitions and the development of technology and science Punk was an intentional rebuttal of the perceived excess and pretension found in mainstream music and early punk artists fashion was defiantly anti materialistic.
