This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/fashion/2013/apr/23/punk-rocks-catwalk-fashion

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Punk rocks on the catwalk Punk rocks on the catwalk
(6 months later)
To know how far punk style has come, muse on these two pub quiz-style facts. The first: in 1975, John Lydon was thrown out by his parents for an extreme haircut. "At the time," he tells Jon Savage in his book, England's Dreaming, "long hair was accepted … I thought 'sod that', so I hacked it off and dyed it green. I looked like a cabbage." Fastforward nearly 40 years and here's another: an item with studs, sartorial shorthand for punk, sold for every 15 seconds on eBay in 2012. Punk – once a subculture so shocking that the haircuts caused violent parental reactions – is now utterly mainstream.To know how far punk style has come, muse on these two pub quiz-style facts. The first: in 1975, John Lydon was thrown out by his parents for an extreme haircut. "At the time," he tells Jon Savage in his book, England's Dreaming, "long hair was accepted … I thought 'sod that', so I hacked it off and dyed it green. I looked like a cabbage." Fastforward nearly 40 years and here's another: an item with studs, sartorial shorthand for punk, sold for every 15 seconds on eBay in 2012. Punk – once a subculture so shocking that the haircuts caused violent parental reactions – is now utterly mainstream.
Celebrities ranging from Rihanna to Alice Dellal and Kate Bosworth have made rips, tears and studs no-brainer attire everywhere from the red carpet to a festival field, but this summer, punk is being reassessed by fashion. This is prompted by the spring show at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, Punk: Chaos to Couture, which opens on 9 May. The Met's annual style exhibition always shapes the fashion year. Chaos to Couture plots the course of punk fashion from the rips and safety pins worn by Lydon and friends to high fashion, with a four-figure price label by Dolce & Gabbana. Add to that photographs by Sheila Rock – the American who documented the scene on both sides of the Atlantic – being shown at Browns boutique in London from this week and a movement that ignited the latter half of the 70s is flexing its sinewy style muscles once again. "It embodies change, revolution and empowerment," says photographer Nick Knight, who has acted as a creative consultant on the Met exhibition. "It may have come from nihilism but it's actually a positive influence when things get too corporate."Celebrities ranging from Rihanna to Alice Dellal and Kate Bosworth have made rips, tears and studs no-brainer attire everywhere from the red carpet to a festival field, but this summer, punk is being reassessed by fashion. This is prompted by the spring show at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, Punk: Chaos to Couture, which opens on 9 May. The Met's annual style exhibition always shapes the fashion year. Chaos to Couture plots the course of punk fashion from the rips and safety pins worn by Lydon and friends to high fashion, with a four-figure price label by Dolce & Gabbana. Add to that photographs by Sheila Rock – the American who documented the scene on both sides of the Atlantic – being shown at Browns boutique in London from this week and a movement that ignited the latter half of the 70s is flexing its sinewy style muscles once again. "It embodies change, revolution and empowerment," says photographer Nick Knight, who has acted as a creative consultant on the Met exhibition. "It may have come from nihilism but it's actually a positive influence when things get too corporate."
The Met's exhibition shows how designers ranging from John Galliano and Alexander McQueen to Nicolas Ghesquière and Hedi Slimane interpreted punk. Highlights include Liz Hurley's famous Versace dress with safety pins, original bondage trousers from the late 70s and John Lydon's mohair jumper remixed by Junya Watanabe. The overall message seems to be how fashion has been influenced by punk, rather than a nostalgia trip back to the Kings Road and the Bowery. "You're not going to see loads of pictures of Sid Vicious and Soo Catwoman," says Knight.The Met's exhibition shows how designers ranging from John Galliano and Alexander McQueen to Nicolas Ghesquière and Hedi Slimane interpreted punk. Highlights include Liz Hurley's famous Versace dress with safety pins, original bondage trousers from the late 70s and John Lydon's mohair jumper remixed by Junya Watanabe. The overall message seems to be how fashion has been influenced by punk, rather than a nostalgia trip back to the Kings Road and the Bowery. "You're not going to see loads of pictures of Sid Vicious and Soo Catwoman," says Knight.
If mod style or rave occasionally make it on to the catwalk, punk is perhaps the only subculture to recur season after season – after designers such as Vivienne Westwood and Zandra Rhodes put it there in the 70s. "At the start, my storyboard was so enormous because almost every designer has covered it at some point," says Andrew Bolton, the curator at the Met.If mod style or rave occasionally make it on to the catwalk, punk is perhaps the only subculture to recur season after season – after designers such as Vivienne Westwood and Zandra Rhodes put it there in the 70s. "At the start, my storyboard was so enormous because almost every designer has covered it at some point," says Andrew Bolton, the curator at the Met.
While punk's familiar tropes – studs, tartan, rips and PVC – are still faithfully pogoing all over the high street at brands ranging from Topshop to Asos and Zara (where even kids' sandals have studs on them), a new generation of catwalk designers, mostly based in London, is reinventing it all over again. There's Louise Gray, who has been compared with Westwood and been known to sport Lydon-style Day-Glo dye-jobs, or Maarten van der Horst, who created prints based on a collage of plastic and paper bags. Gareth Pugh, meanwhile, actually made gowns out of rubbish bags for his autumn/winter collection, while knitwear collective Sister by Sibling were inspired by punk provocateur Poly Styrene for spring, and Television's Richard Hell (who Bolton says was one of the first to rip his T-shirt) for their autumn/winter menswear collection. "Most people view punk as the guy with the green mohican on the Kings Road," says Sibling's Joe Bates of Styrene, who died in 2011. "She was a true punk, fighting that uniform."While punk's familiar tropes – studs, tartan, rips and PVC – are still faithfully pogoing all over the high street at brands ranging from Topshop to Asos and Zara (where even kids' sandals have studs on them), a new generation of catwalk designers, mostly based in London, is reinventing it all over again. There's Louise Gray, who has been compared with Westwood and been known to sport Lydon-style Day-Glo dye-jobs, or Maarten van der Horst, who created prints based on a collage of plastic and paper bags. Gareth Pugh, meanwhile, actually made gowns out of rubbish bags for his autumn/winter collection, while knitwear collective Sister by Sibling were inspired by punk provocateur Poly Styrene for spring, and Television's Richard Hell (who Bolton says was one of the first to rip his T-shirt) for their autumn/winter menswear collection. "Most people view punk as the guy with the green mohican on the Kings Road," says Sibling's Joe Bates of Styrene, who died in 2011. "She was a true punk, fighting that uniform."

It's hard to look at Rock's wonderful pictures without wanting to be transported to New York's Lower East Side but this is a well-trodden path. Punk has become a hackneyed reference – as cliched in fashion as, say, Belle de Jour or doomed 70s heiress Talitha Getty. But despite that ubiquitousness, it has never quite lost its rebel yell. In fact, its power has possibly increased as youth culture has become more and more homogenised and glossy. "My collection started when people were telling me to do cocktail dresses," says Van der Horst. "It was a reaction against it. My aesthetic is lo-fi, it's DIY."
It's hard to look at Rock's wonderful pictures without wanting to be transported to New York's Lower East Side but this is a well-trodden path. Punk has become a hackneyed reference – as cliched in fashion as, say, Belle de Jour or doomed 70s heiress Talitha Getty. But despite that ubiquitousness, it has never quite lost its rebel yell. In fact, its power has possibly increased as youth culture has become more and more homogenised and glossy. "My collection started when people were telling me to do cocktail dresses," says Van der Horst. "It was a reaction against it. My aesthetic is lo-fi, it's DIY."
There is an argument that punk high fashion is a contradiction in terms; it started, after all, as a look that any teen Pistols fan could replicate with a pair of scissors and a marker pen. Bolton believes it's these pieces that are most powerful. "Some of the handmade pieces are beyond couture," he says. "You customised it so you knew not one person had what you were wearing. Creativity flourishes in a hard economic climate – you have to make something out of nothing."There is an argument that punk high fashion is a contradiction in terms; it started, after all, as a look that any teen Pistols fan could replicate with a pair of scissors and a marker pen. Bolton believes it's these pieces that are most powerful. "Some of the handmade pieces are beyond couture," he says. "You customised it so you knew not one person had what you were wearing. Creativity flourishes in a hard economic climate – you have to make something out of nothing."
The hope is that seeing what their forebears did will turn the latest teenagers to face a recession on to the spirit of punk – and spur them on to make their own version. "It was like a nasty palate cleanser," says Bates. "Everything was dull and needed a shakeup, and what a wonderful shakeup." With punk now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it must be time for the next one.The hope is that seeing what their forebears did will turn the latest teenagers to face a recession on to the spirit of punk – and spur them on to make their own version. "It was like a nasty palate cleanser," says Bates. "Everything was dull and needed a shakeup, and what a wonderful shakeup." With punk now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it must be time for the next one.
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.