This fall, the punk aesthetic is back. Don't panic: there's no need to raise your hair in a majestic crest or take to the streets singing " God, save the Queen " to adopt it. We will rather include it in our looks in winks. To understand the importance of the punk movement and why, several decades later, it is still influential, I want to tell you about its origins.
The punk aesthetic is rooted in the wonderful world of music. Indeed, towards the end of the 60s, the hippie aesthetic took hold: this led musicians to refine themselves, to polish their creation and to offer more sophisticated melodies and lyrics. However, this trend does not please everyone: in fact, a section of the youth does not want polished music but rather a raw, dirty sound. This is the birth of the punk movement. From the turn of the 70s, the underground scene grew and took root in the New York landscape first, then the British one (yes yes! in that order!). Although the English scene developed afterwards, it is what takes up all the space: life is hard in the kingdom of fish & chips and young people want to shout their opposition to the aristocracy, to the establishment. It is through the voice of the Sex Pistols and The Clash that the criticism of rebellious youth will be heard.
And, in fashion, how does that translate? Ripped pants, leather jackets and crazy hairstyles accompany the immortal Doc Martens to show that young people don't care about good taste and the rules of decency. Vivienne Westwood is THE figure of punk fashion of the time. As fashion and music go hand in hand, she happens to be the girlfriend of the manager of the Sex Pistols (you see, everything is in everything!). Together, they dressed artists from the punk scene with Westwood's creations. Their store, Sex , thumbs its nose at the authorities with its provocative windows and inventory of non-conformist clothing.
The years pass and, as is often the case, the rebellion fades in favor of profitability: it is at this moment that the punk scene calms down to become the New Wave scene. But that's another story. The punk soul in its ideals of liberation from social diktats never completely disappeared and continued to seduce the different generations of young people who followed one another; that’s why it’s still soaring, five decades later.
As for us, even if our teenage rebellion is far behind, we like to show that behind our wisdom there is still a tigress. So we add little touches of punk to our looks, to show that we like the rules...but that we also like to break away from them sometimes!
