1977
VIVIENNE WESTWOOD
and
MALCOLM MCLAREN
Ensemble
Ca. 1977
Vivienne Westwood, British, born 1941
Malcolm McLaren, British, 1946–2010
Shirt and harness of black cotton broadcloth and black rubber;
trousers and strap of black cotton broadcloth and silver metal;
bum flap of black cotton terry and silver metal
Purchase, Friends of The Costume Institute Gifts, 2018 (2018.775a–e)
2003
JUNYA WATANABE
Ensemble
Spring/summer 2003
Junya Watanabe, Japanese, born 1961
Top of black cotton broadcloth embroidered with black cotton butterfly motifs and trimmed with black cotton webbing and silver metal;
skirt of black cotton twill trimmed with black cotton webbing and silver metal
Top: Purchase, The Dorothy Strelsin Foundation Inc. Gift, 2014 (2014.506a); skirt: Gift of Andrew Bolton, 2020
Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren crystallized and commercialized the anarchic street style that became known as punk through their shop on King’s Road, London, which opened in 1971. From teddy-boy suits to biker clothing to rubber and leather fetish wear, they codified the punk look under the label “Seditionaries.” This ensemble comprises two of the style’s most iconic garments: a parachute shirt and a pair of bondage trousers with a loincloth, or “bum flap.” With its leg-binding, torso-constraining straps and metal and rubber hardware, the sadomasochistic associations are readily apparent.
The punk aesthetic promoted by Westwood and McLaren informs this ensemble by Junya Watanabe, which epitomizes the designer’s signature amalgamation of historical and subcultural references. Its functional straps and buckles, which regulate the length of the skirt and jacket, combine the mechanics of a parachute with those of a late eighteenth-century gown with its skirt gathered into puffs by internal rings and cords or ribbons. In so doing, Watanabe’s ensemble marries the nihilism of the punk movement with the decadence of the ancien régime.
The punk aesthetic promoted by Westwood and McLaren informs this ensemble by Junya Watanabe, which epitomizes the designer’s signature amalgamation of historical and subcultural references. Its functional straps and buckles, which regulate the length of the skirt and jacket, combine the mechanics of a parachute with those of a late eighteenth-century gown with its skirt gathered into puffs by internal rings and cords or ribbons. In so doing, Watanabe’s ensemble marries the nihilism of the punk movement with the decadence of the ancien régime.