Safety Pins Are a Girl’s Best Friend
The punk scene has always had a significant impact on the world in general, from fashion to pop culture. It has redesigned aesthetic standards, replacing the combed and angelic couture with a rebellious and countercultural aesthetic where generations increasingly identify themselves. Punk today has evolved, ingrained in new aesthetic codes, in the wardrobes of new generations challenging conventional social norms, and in the hearts of those who fight. Although New York and London remain at the epicenter of the original punk movement, the genre's anti-establishment spirit migrated to Japan, providing Tokyo youth an outlet to rebel against the severe economic challenges of the mid-1970s. Modern Japan is known for its wealth of subcultures like Lolita and Harajuku, but in the period of recovery from an oil crisis, industrial decline, and major price inflation in the 70s, Japan's underground scene was born. Punk was (and still is) the subculture that epitomizes the spirit of this disenchanted youth.
Interior of BOY: shop girls at work. "The interior was created by John Harwood and Peter Christopherson. It was inspired by a gruesome story of a young Boy who died violently." © Sheila Rock.
One of the pioneers of this trend in the fashion world is undoubtedly Vivienne Westwood, the British designer famous for her contribution to the punk movement in London in the '70s, which drastically changed her life direction. Vivienne met Malcolm McLaren, the manager of the Sex Pistols: their shop on Kings Road was the focal point of a revolutionary popular culture. Over the next forty years, the designer faced frustrating relationships, difficult financial situations, and yet managed to emerge as an English cultural icon and a phenomenon in the world of fashion. Today, in fact, the Westwood brand sits alongside labels such as Gucci, Dior, and McQueen. A bridge between England and Japan: Vivienne Westwood has been the voice of rebellion, unfiltered sensuality, and the elegance of a style that more than any other has been the genesis and symbol of a culture.
Vivienne Westwood’s “Armor Ring” pictured in NANA
The Westwood phenomenon is now, of course, an integral part of mainstream culture but has always been an icon of counterculture, a reference point in various forms of art, especially notable in Ai Yazawa's manga "NANA". Westwood has always embodied a challenging energy to social norms through fashion, encouraging individuality and creativity, and Yazawa has created complex and creatively expressive characters that share, in some kind of way, a deep soul and a desire to express their individuality uniquely with the designer. The mangaka has incorporated elements of rebellion and originality into the clothing of all characters, connecting each personality even in simple elements, such as Shin's Orb Lighter or Nana Osaki's Armor Ring, now iconic archive pieces often hard to find even second-hand.
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Personalities like Westwood are equivalent to the cursed poets steeped in despair, pervaded by inspiration at the bottom of the abyss into which they were thrown by their own genius. Vivienne doesn't create clothes from a bourgeois studio sitting in designer armchairs; Vivienne is emancipated, casual, sexually aware and uninhibited. She drew strength from sex, music, and the anger of adolescent nonconformity, to create an identity, intellectual, and solemn dressing beyond any limitation of the term. The celebration of her heritage continues through the eyes of the now-widowed Andreas Krohntaler, who, collection after collection, continues to bring Vivienne to life through meticulous research and respect. From one of his letters: "In everything we will show, I thought of you and where you came from, from the North of England. The 'masturbation skirt', do you remember? From a long time ago. How much we laughed when we made it. I worked on it again. The petticoat skirts, which were your absolute favourite. [...] You once said to me that you can take everything away, just leave me my platform shoes because one can't do without them. Maybe the most important thing you ever taught me was to put the woman on a pedestal”. Many young people have discovered (and continue to do so) punk fashion through the fascinating personality of Westwood, who has immortalized the varied facets of a self-expressive style that never ceases to evolve and inspire new generations that take inspiration from the freedom and nonchalance of those who, before them, had the courage to assert themselves and say, "fuck it, this is me."
