Vivienne Westwood

"It wasn't that I purposely wanted to rebel, I wanted to find out why it had to be done one way and not another."

Westwood is one of Britain's most inventive and influential designers.
In 1991 she was named British Designer of the Year.
Vivienne once said "The only thing I really do believe in is culture."
Westwood worked with Malcoln McLaren from 1970 to 1983 and together they launched Punk.
Her work is roooted in English tailoring and she learns through doing, which is why you can see the development of her style through her collections.
She has always had a practical approach to fashion, driven by her curiosity about how things work.

McLaren and Westwood, 1976

In 1971 they opened 'Let it Rock' at 430 Kings Road in London. They became disinterested with the hippie movement that was still the popular fashion choice of the late sixties, and instead opted for a more rebellious 50s style. Westwood would take apart original 50s Teddy-boy clothes to make her own, often making them for Malcolm McLaren.

McLaren outside 'Let it Rock', 1971

Their style changed to biker clothing, zips and leather in 1972, and 430 Kings Road was re-branded into 'Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die', complete with skull and crossbones. They designed t-shirts showing provocative messages, which led to their prosecution under obscenity laws. So what did they do? They re-branded again! However this time, they went even more hardcore.

'Venus' t-shirt

'Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die', 1972

430 Kings Road became 'Sex' from 1974 to 1976, with the slogan "rubberwear for the office". It was a shop "unlike anything else going on in England at the time".

'Sex', 1974

Malcolm McLaren managed the Sex Pistols, and when their number one hit "God Save the Queen" was refused air time by the BBC, 430 Kings Road was re-branded as 'Seditionaries'. This time, the shop transformed sexual fetishism into fashion, using straps and zips and inspiring a D.I.Y. aesthetic. This became known as 'Punk Rock'.

Seditionaries Shirt, 1977

When the Sex Pistols collapsed and Punk became more mainstream, Westwood was left disenchanted. 430 Kings Road eventually became 'Worlds End' in 1980, the name still used today. Worlds End is the name of the area, so actually quite unoriginal...but also very original too, depends which way you look at it.

Really interesting to read how Malcolm McLaren actually got the shop in the first place. Briefly, I'll tell you:

Malcolm was broke and walking down the street in his brand new, powder blue, teddy boy suit when it started raining. To protect his suit he sheltered in a phone box, when a man came over and said he looked interesting and invited Malcolm into his shop, which happened to be 430 Kings Road. He offered Malcolm one square foot in his shop to sell things, which Malcolm filled with records and magazines. One day, the shop owner said he had to go away for a little while, and asked Malcolm to look after the shop while he was gone. The shop owner never returned, and so Malcolm felt he should take over. When the landlord came to find out why the rent hadn't been paid, Malcolm explained the situation and they made a deal, where Malcolm now owned the shop and started paying the rent. And that is the brief story of how Malcolm McLaren came to own (well, rent) 430 Kings Road.

http://worldsendshop.co.uk/how-malcolm-got-the-kings-road-shop/

http://www.viviennewestwood.com/history/430-kings-road

http://www.kidsofdada.com/blogs/magazine/11950453-sex-shop
http://www.viviennewestwood.com/history